The unexpected weakness of some faults has been attributed to the emergence of acoustic waves that promote failure by reducing the confining pressure through a mechanism known as acoustic fluidization, also proposed to explain earthquake remote triggering. Here we validate this mechanism via the numerical investigation of a granular fault model system. We find that the stick-slip dynamics is af...

The solid–fluid phase transition of a granular material shaken horizontally is investigated numerically. We find that it is a first-order phase transition and propose two order parameters, namely the averaged kinetic energy and the averaged granular temperature, to determine the fluidization point precisely. It scales as amplitude times square of the frequency of the external vibration. Using t...

The aerodynamic behavior of wet forestry biomass particles mechanically shaken in a fluidized bed was analyzed with turning velocity between 0.5 and 2 r.p.s. It was concluded that the agitation exerts an important effect on the fluidization of wet biomass particles. The effect of the agitator is not relevant if the particles have low humidity content. In addition, a methodology based on the Erg...

Fluidization of non-spherical particles is a common process in energy industries and chemical engineering. Understanding the fluidization important to guide relevant processes. There already have been numerous studies which investigate behaviors different during fluidization, but investigations polyhedral do not receive much attention. In this study, investigation described by polyhedron approa...

We use numerical modeling to investigate the combined effects of impact velocity and acoustic fluidization on lunar craters in the simple-to-complex transition regime. To investigate the full scope of the problem, we employed the two widely adopted Block-Model of acoustic fluidization scaling assumptions (scaling block size by impactor size and scaling by coupling parameter) and compared their ...

Estimates based on the strength, size, and shape of the Atlantic razor clam (Ensis directus) indicate that the animal's burrow depth should be physically limited to a few centimeters; yet razor clams can dig as deep as 70 cm. By measuring soil deformations around burrowing E. directus, we have found the animal reduces drag by contracting its valves to initially fail, and then fluidize, the surr...

The effect of milled and micronized lactose fines on the fluidization and in vitro aerosolization properties of dry powder inhaler (DPI) formulations was investigated, and the suitability of static and dynamic methods for characterising general powder flow properties of these blends was assessed. Lactose carrier pre-blends were prepared by adding different lactose fines (Lactohale 300, 230 and ...