Spiral patterns in oscillated granular layers

Density-wave fronts on the brink of wet granular condensation

Density-wave fronts in a vibrofluidized wet granular layer undergoing a gas-liquid-like transition are investigated experimentally. The threshold of the instability is governed by the amplitude of the vertical vibrations. Fronts, which are curved into a spiral shape, propagate coherently along the circular rim of the container with leading edges. They are stable beyond a critical distance from the container center. Based on an analysis of the emerging time and length scales, we propose a model for the pattern formation by considering the competition between the time scale for the condensation of wet granular particles from a gas-like state and that of the energy injection resisting this process.

Pattern formation in wet granular matter under vertical vibrations

Experiments on a thin layer of cohesive wet granular matter under vertical vibrations reveal kink-separated domains that collide with the container at different phases. Due to the strong cohesion arising from the formation of liquid bridges between adjacent particles, the domains move collectively upon vibrations. Depending on the periodicity of this collective motion, the kink fronts may propagate, couple with each other, and form rotating spiral patterns in the case of period tripling or stay as standing wave patterns in the case of period doubling. Moreover, both patterns may coexist with granular "gas bubbles"-phase separation into a liquidlike and a gaslike state. Stability diagrams for the instabilities measured with various granular layer mass m and container height H are presented. The onsets for both types of patterns and their dependency on m and H can be quantitatively captured with a model considering the granular layer as a single particle colliding completely inelastically with the container.

Convection and fluidization in oscillatory granular flows: The role of acoustic streaming

Convection and fluidization phenomena in vibrated granular beds have attracted a strong interest from the physics community since the last decade of the past century. As early reported by Faraday, the convective flow of large inertia particles in vibrated beds exhibits enigmatic features such as frictional weakening and the unexpected influence of the interstitial gas. At sufficiently intense vibration intensities surface patterns appear bearing a stunning resemblance with the surface ripples (Faraday waves) observed for low-viscosity liquids, which suggests that the granular bed transits into a liquid-like fluidization regime despite the large inertia of the particles. In his 1831 seminal paper, Faraday described also the development of circulation air currents in the vicinity of vibrating plates. This phenomenon (acoustic streaming) is well known in acoustics and hydrodynamics and occurs whenever energy is dissipated by viscous losses at any oscillating boundary. The main argument of the present paper is that acoustic streaming might develop on the surface of the large inertia particles in the vibrated granular bed. As a consequence, the drag force on the particles subjected to an oscillatory viscous flow is notably enhanced. Thus, acoustic streaming could play an important role in enhancing convection and fluidization of vibrated granular beds, which has been overlooked in previous studies. The same mechanism might be relevant to geological events such as fluidization of landslides and soil liquefaction by earthquakes and sound waves.

Selection of multiarmed spiral waves in a regular network of neurons

Formation and selection of multiarmed spiral wave due to spontaneous symmetry breaking are investigated in a regular network of Hodgkin-Huxley neuron by changing the excitability and imposing spatial forcing currents on the neurons in the network. The arm number of the multiarmed spiral wave is dependent on the distribution of spatial forcing currents and excitability diversity in the network, and the selection criterion for supporting multiarmed spiral waves is discussed. A broken spiral segment is measured by a short polygonal line connected by three adjacent points (controlled nodes), and a double-spiral wave can be developed from the spiral segment. Multiarmed spiral wave is formed when a group of double-spiral waves rotate in the same direction in the network. In the numerical studies, a group of controlled nodes are selected and spatial forcing currents are imposed on these nodes, and our results show that l-arm stable spiral wave (l = 2, 3, 4,...8) can be induced to occupy the network completely. It is also confirmed that low excitability is critical to induce multiarmed spiral waves while high excitability is important to propagate the multiarmed spiral wave outside so that distinct multiarmed spiral wave can occupy the network completely. Our results confirm that symmetry breaking of target wave in the media accounts for emergence of multiarmed spiral wave, which can be developed from a group of spiral waves with single arm under appropriate condition, thus the potential formation mechanism of multiarmed spiral wave in the media is explained.

Formation of spiral patterns in dielectric-barrier discharge investigated by an intensified-charge coupled device

The formation of the spiral patterns in dielectric-barrier discharge is investigated through instantaneous pictures at successive driving half cycles taken by an intensified-charge coupled device (ICCD). The filaments discretely distributed in each instantaneous picture corresponding to one discharge pulse indicate that they are the basic unit of the spiral patterns. An individual filament can undergo two movement states within continuous discharges: pinning at the same locations and shifting along the arm with a small displacement (less than the filament radius), which results in the formation of smooth arms. The averaged correlation time between the instantaneous patterns is found to be about two driving half-cycles by the cross-correlation calculations.

Period tripling causes rotating spirals in agitated wet granular layers

Pattern formation of a thin layer of vertically agitated wet granular matter is investigated experimentally. Rotating spirals with three arms, which correspond to the kinks between regions with different colliding phases, are the dominating pattern. This preferred number of arms corresponds to period tripling of the agitated granular layer, unlike predominantly subharmonic Faraday crispations in dry granular matter. The chirality of the spatiotemporal pattern corresponds to the rotation direction of the spirals.

Effects of an oscillating field on magnetic domain patterns: Emergence of concentric-ring patterns surrounding a strong defect

Oscillating fields can make domain patterns change into various types of structures. Numerical simulations show that concentric-ring domain patterns centered at a strong defect are observed under a rapidly oscillating field in some cases. The concentric-ring pattern appears near the threshold of spatially uniform patterns in high-frequency cases. The threshold is theoretically estimated and the theoretical threshold is in good agreement with numerical one in a high-frequency region. The theoretical analysis gives also good estimations of several characteristics of domain patterns for high frequencies.

Gas-driven subharmonic waves in a vibrated two-phase granular material

Vibrated powders exhibit striking phenomena: subharmonic waves, oscillons, convection, heaping, and even bubbling. We demonstrate novel rectangular profile subharmonic waves for vibrated granular material, that occur uniquely in the two-phase case of grains, and a fluid, such as air. These waves differ substantially from those for the gas-free case, exhibit different dispersion relations, and occur for specific shaking parameters and air pressure, understandable with gas-particle flow models. These waves occur when the gas diffusively penetrates the granular layer in a time comparable to the shaker period. As the pressure is lowered towards P =0, the granular-gas system exhibits a Knudsen regime. This instability provides an opportunity to quantitatively test models of two-phase flow.

Experimental characterization of vibrated granular rings

We report an experimental study of the statistical properties of vibrated granular rings. In this system, a linked rod and bead metallic chain in the form of a ring is collisionally excited by a vertically oscillating plate. The dynamics are driven primarily by inelastic bead-plate collisions and are simultaneously constrained by the rings' physical connectedness. By imaging many instances of the ring configurations, we measure the ensemble averages and distributions of several physical characteristics on the scale of individual beads and composite ring. We study local properties such as inter-bead separation and inter-bonds angles, and global properties such as the radius of gyration and center-of-mass motion. We characterize scaling with respect to the size of the chain.

Geometric diagnostics of complex patterns: spiral defect chaos

Motivated by the observation of spiral patterns in a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological systems, we present an automated approach that aims at characterizing quantitatively spiral-like elements in complex stripe-like patterns. The approach provides the location of the spiral tip and the size of the spiral arms in terms of their arc length and their winding number. In addition, it yields the number of pattern components (Betti number of order 1), as well as their size and certain aspects of their shape. We apply the method to spiral defect chaos in thermally driven Rayleigh-Benard convection and find that the arc length of spirals decreases monotonically with decreasing Prandtl number of the fluid and increasing heating. By contrast, the winding number of the spirals is nonmonotonic in the heating. The distribution function for the number of spirals is significantly narrower than a Poisson distribution. The distribution function for the winding number shows approximately an exponential decay. It depends only weakly on the heating, but strongly on the Prandtl number. Large spirals arise only for larger Prandtl numbers (Pr approximately > 1). In this regime the joint distribution for the spiral length and the winding number exhibits a three-peak structure, indicating the dominance of Archimedean spirals of opposite sign and relatively straight sections. For small Prandtl numbers the distribution function reveals a large number of small compact pattern components.

Observation of spiral pattern and spiral defect chaos in dielectric barrier discharge in argon/air at atmospheric pressure

A rich variety of spiral patterns such as single-armed spiral, dipole spirals, target pattern, multiarmed spiral, and spiral defect chaos state have been observed in ac-driven atmospheric pressure gas discharge. The confined and free boundary conditions are defined by means of whether there is a sidewall in the discharge domain or not, respectively. In the free boundary condition, the spiral pattern arises when the stripe pattern undergoes core instability or notching instability. In the confined boundary condition, the spiral pattern is formed by sidewall forcing. The spiral drifts upward in the free boundary condition and meanders in the confined boundary condition. The topological charge of the spiral pattern can be changed when the spiral interacts with the dislocations. The spiral wavelength (average distance between two consecutive rolls) is a function of gas composition and decreases rapidly with increase of air concentration in discharge gas.

Nonlinear trans-resonant waves, vortices and patterns: From microresonators to the early Universe

Perturbed wave equations are considered. Approximate general solutions of these equations are constructed, which describe wave phenomena in different physical and chemical systems. Analogies between surface waves, nonlinear and atom optics, field theories and acoustics of the early Universe can be seen in the similarities between the general solutions that govern each system. With the help of the general solutions and boundary conditions and/or resonant conditions we have derived the basic highly nonlinear ordinary differential equation or the basic algebraic equation for traveling waves. Then, approximate analytic resonant solutions are constructed, which describe the trans-resonant transformation of harmonic waves into traveling shock-, jet-, or mushroom-like waves. The mushroom-like waves can evolve into cloud-like and vortex-like structures. The motion and oscillations of these waves and structures can be very complex. Under parametric excitation these waves can vary their velocity, stop, and change the direction of their motion. Different dynamic patterns are yielded by these resonant traveling waves in the x-t and x-y planes. They simulate many patterns observed in liquid layers, optical systems, superconductors, Bose-Einstein condensates, micro- and electron resonators. The harmonic excitation may be compressed and transformed inside the resonant band into traveling or standing particle-like waves. The area of application of these solutions and results may possibly vary from the generation of nuclear particles, acoustical turbulence, and catastrophic seismic waves to the formation of galaxies and the Universe. In particular, the formation of galaxies and galaxy clusters may be connected with nonlinear and resonant phenomena in the early Universe. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.