Phase Transitions in Shear-Induced Segregation of Granular Materials

We computationally study shear-induced segregation of different-sized particles in vertical chute flow. We find that, for low solid fractions, large particles segregate toward regions of low shear rates where the granular temperature (velocity variance) is low. As the solid fraction increases, this trend reverses, and large particles segregate toward regions of high shear rates and temperatures. We find that this is a global phenomenon: local segregation trends reverse at high system solid fractions even where local solid fractions are small. The reversal corresponds to the growth of a single enduring cluster of 30%-60% of the particles that we propose changes the segregation dynamics.