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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/L43336/01
Title: THE INTERACTION OF GRANULAR FLOW WITH THE BOUNDARY- LAYER FLOW OVER A ROTATING SURFACE
Principal Investigator: Thomas, Professor P
Other Investigators:
Carpenter, Professor PW
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Sch of Engineering
Organisation: University of Warwick
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 April 1998 Ends: 31 March 2001 Value (£): 99,647
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Fluid Dynamics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
The problem we propose to study is closely related to classic problem of the stability of the boundary-layer flow over a rotating disc, however it focuses on an important new aspect relevant to many practical situations. We plan to study this flow when the basic flow state is modified by the interaction with a layer of small granules. We have observed a striking new spiral pattern formation process for this flow configuration. Depending on the experimental parameters we have observed between approx. 7 and 100 large scale spiral arms which form out of a rearrangement process of the granules under appropriate experimental conditions. The patterns are not identical with those associated with the well known type I cross-flow spiral vortices; they can neither be explained in terms of the Type II instability. From our experimental results together with dimensional considerations we have derived an expression for the number of spiral arms as a function of the granule and fluid properties which still remains to be verified experimentally. We plan to investigate the scope for a commercial exploitation of the process and we want to answer the crucial scientific question concerning the underlying physical mechanisms.
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Organisation Website: http://www.warwick.ac.uk