Parametric study of horizontally vibrated grain packings: comparison between Discrete Element Method and experimental results.

Numerical and experimental studies have been undertaken to analyze three parameters controlling the compaction of granular media submitted to sinusoidal horizontal vibrations. We have characterized the influence of the dimensionless acceleration Γ, the geometry of the container and the friction coefficients on the grain velocities and on the packing densities. Above a critical acceleration Γ, the velocities increases with Γ. For low values of Γ, the surface layers are compacted, whereas the bottom layers remain at their initial density. For high values of Γ, the bottom layers get compacted, the surface layers are fluidized so that the bulk dynamic and relaxed densities decreased. In the same way, the effect of the dimensions of the container and of the friction coefficients on the packing properties has been studied for given heights of sand, acceleration and frequency. It has been shown that the influence of the two last parameters is similar to that of acceleration. The numerical results given by the Discrete Element Method appear to be in good agreement with experimental results.