Scientists use Avizo to capture the complex dynamics of particle movement in granular materials
Scientists have for the first time captured the complex dynamics of particle movement in granular materials, helping to explain why mixed nuts often see the larger Brazil nuts gather at the top. This phenomenon, known as the ‘Brazil-nut effect’, has huge implications for industries where uneven mixing can critically degrade product quality. The findings could have vital impact on industries struggling with the phenomenon, such as pharmaceuticals and mining.
For the first time, scientists at The University of Manchester have used time-resolved 3D imaging through time-lapse X-ray Computed Tomography to show how the Brazil nuts rise upwards through a pile of nuts as it is repeatedly agitated.
Dr Parmesh Gajjar, lead author of the study, said: “In order to understand the movements, it was necessary to identify each of the individual nuts within the 3D data. This was challenging because of the irregular shape of the nuts, but also because of noisy CT data.
“We have used Avizo for many years at the Henry Moseley X-ray Imaging Facility at The University of Manchester, and the ease of use for 3D data was what made it suitable for this work.
“The 3D capabilities of Avizo allowed a very neat pipeline from raw data, correcting for noise, identifying each nut and analyzing size, shape and orientational statistics for each one. In addition, the TCL programming capabilities made it very simple to extend the pipeline to seamlessly process all 181 datasets.
“Our study highlights the important role of particle shape and orientation in segregation. Further, this ability to track the motion in 3D will pave the way for new experimental studies of segregating mixtures and will open the door to even more realistic simulations and powerful predictive models. This will allow us to better design industrial equipment to minimize size segregation thus leading to more uniform mixtures. This is critical to many industries, for instance ensuring an even distribution of active ingredients in medicinal tablets, but also in food processing, mining and construction.”
Read the news in The University of Manchester Newsroom.