The Rheology of Granular Materials

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Webinar ID: 840 5098 6921

Passcode: 288688

 Abstract: Granular materials exhibit a broad range of intricate dynamic behaviours. The study of their hydrodynamics is extremely relevant in the chemical and process industries, where those materials are widely handled and produced. Understanding how internal (e.g., particles size and shape) and external (e.g., applied stresses, moisture content) physical properties impact on the flow behaviour of solid particles helps industrial practitioners handle and produce particulates in an efficient and less costly way.  

The talk explores the challenges associated with the dynamic behaviour of dry and wet granular materials, and discusses recent experimental and modelling efforts undertaken with the aim of elucidating the rheological behaviour of aerated powders. A commercial instrument, namely the Freeman FT4 Powder Rheometer, is modified to generate Couette flow. The development of the modified instrument, called the “Aerated Bed Virtual Couette Rheometer” (AB-VCR), is presented. The AB-VCR is employed in both non-aerated and aerated modes to determine the rheology of monodispersed spherical glass beads with and without moisture. Systematic measurements of the stresses which develop within the granular medium are presented and a rheological law is proposed. The validity of such a constitutive law is tested and discussed.

Biography: Raffaella Ocone obtained her first degree in Chemical Engineering from the Università di Napoli, Italy and her MA and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, USA. She holds the Chair of Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University (HWU) since 1999. She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), and the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 2007 she was appointed Cavaliere of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the President of the Italian Republic. In The Queen’s 2019 New Year Honours she was appointed Officer of the British Empire (OBE) for services to engineering. Raffaella was named as one of the top 100 Most Influential Women in the Engineering Sector in 2019 in the list produced by board appointments firm Inclusive Boards in partnership with the Financial Times.

At HWU, Raffaella is the Head of the Multiphase Multiscale Engineering Modelling (MMEM) research group. She has worked in a number of international Institutions such as the Università di Napoli (Italy); Claude Bérnard Université, Lyon (France); Louisiana State University (USA); Princeton University (USA). She was the first “Caroline Herschel Visiting Professor” in Engineering at RUHR Universität, Bochum, Germany (July-November 2017) and the recipient of a Visiting Research Fellowship from the Institute for Advanced Studies, Università di Bologna, Italy (March-April 2018). Raffaella’s main area of research is in the field of modelling complex (multi-phase) reactive systems with emphasis to the development of responsible technologies in the energy arena. She has taken the lead in the teaching of engineering ethics, a field where she has contributed invited lectures and publications. Currently she is the EPSRC Established Career Fellow in Particle Technology.