Flow-induced surface crystallization of granular particles in cylindrical confinement

An interesting phenomenon that a layer of crystallized shell formed at the container wall during an orifice flow in a cylinder is observed experimentally and is investigated in DEM simulation. Different from shear or vibration driven granular crystallization, our simulation shows during the flow the shell layer is formed spontaneously from stagnant zone at the base and grows at a constant rate to the top with no external drive. Roughness of the shell surface is defined as a standard deviation of the surface height and its development is found to disobey existed growth models. The growth rate of the shell is found linearly proportional to the flow rate. This shell is static and served as a rough wall in an orifice flow with frictionless sidewall, which changes the flow profiles and its stress properties, and in turn guarantees a constant flow rate.