Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R75694/01
Title:	Granular material behaviour at the single particle level
Principal Investigator:	Wildman, Professor R
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Mechanical Engineering
Organisation:	Loughborough University
Scheme:	Advanced Fellowship (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 October 2002	Ends:	30 September 2007	Value (£):	219,664
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Particle Technology
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Retail
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 23 Nov 2001 Engineering Fellowships Panel (2002) Deferred
Summary on Grant Application Form
The proposed research aims to study granular materials by examining the fundamental mechanics at the microscopic or single particle level. Granular materials, in all their forms, are crucial to many industrial processes, but are still relatively poorly understood. In order to elucidate the underlying mechanisms by which granular phenomena occur, a range of experiments are proposed that will use Positron Emission Particle Tracking (a unique facility for probing within 3D rapid granular flows), high speed photography and wavelength scanning interferometry: (1) the equilibrium theories of kinetic theory and Brownian motion will be explored for 3-D vibro-fluidised granular gases through study of the relationship between granular temperature and the transport coefficients, (2) predictions of granular temperature profiles will be compared against experimental results, thereby validating proposed constitutive relations, (3) the variation of the stress tensor will be examined close to the walls to determine the extent of any boundary layer, (4) energy partition between rotation and translation will be explored in 2-D fluidised systems, and (5) stress distributions at boundaries of granular piles and packs will be determined through optical interferometry. These experiments all aim to relate the microscopic (single particle) interactions to the macroscopic (collective) behaviour, in order that we may better predict granular transport, storage and processing behaviour, leading in the long term to better and more efficient techniques for handling such materials.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.lboro.ac.uk