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Effect of reduced-gravity conditions on the flowability of granular

media

A. Brucks (1), L. Richter (1), J.-B. Vincent (2), J. Blum (3)

(1) Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme, Bremen,
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Germany (antje.brucks@dlr.de, lutz.richter@dlr.de)

(2) Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
(vincent@mps.mpg.de)
(3) Institut für Geophysik und extraterrestrische Physik, Technische Universität
Braunschweig, Germany (j.blum@tu-bs.de)

Abstract

We present a study on investigation of fundamental properties of granular media as

gravity levels are reduced. Probes and rovers are sent to different solar-system bodies
encountering surfaces covered with granular materials. Questions of how deep probes
sink in or how well rovers can drive on such surfaces can only be answered if the
fundamental properties of the granular material and its behaviour under reduced gravity
conditions are known.
We are interested in the static and dynamic characteristics and especially at which lower
boundary in g-level particles become dominated by cohesive forces.
The experiments were performed in the Bremen Drop Tower facility using the
microgravity environment so that a substitute ‘gravity’ field could be applied via a
rotating centrifuge. The rotation rate could be varied to adjust for different acceleration
levels. Surface flow effects were simulated in two flat (quasi-2D) sandglass experiments,
in a rotating tumbler and in an avalanche box. We will present results from 15
microgravity experiments in an acceleration range between 0.01g and 1g.

1 Introduction
Gravity is the determinant factor in most granular shear flows like landslides, sandpiles
or even in some industrial applications. Gravity-driven flow of granular materials is
particularly important in the understanding of the geology of planets as well as for human
exploration and construction on the Moon and Mars in the next decades. For example,
surface features on Mars (Treiman, 2003; Gerstell et al., 2004; McEwan, 1989; Shinbrodt
et al., 2004), Venus (Malin, 1992; Basilevsky and Head, 2003), and other planetary
bodies (Schenk and Bulmer, 1998; Howard, 1973) are thought to be the result of
avalanches of loose granular material. The exploration of the Moon and Mars will require
lander and exploration vehicles on surfaces of loose granular material (Harrington et al.,
2005; Arvidson et al., 2004 and 2004b). In order to determine the conditions of stable
landing or the vehicle performance on different terrains it is essential to predict the soil-
vehicle interaction (Arvidson et al., 2004 and 2004b). These parameters are not well
known yet.

Gravity effects might play a decisive role in the formation and evolution of planetary
regolith, the coarse- or fine-grained granular matter that covers most of the surfaces of

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(almost) atmosphere-free bodies in the solar system, such as small terrestrial planets
(Mercury, Mars), asteroids, moons, or comets. The formation of the regolith is
determined by meteoritic impacts on the planetary surfaces with a non-catastrophic re-
accretion of the impact fragments (Britt et al., 2002). Due to the much lower surface
gravity level of small bodies, the re-accretion velocity of the regolith particles happens
more or less smoothly so that a porous layer of granular matter forms. For remote-
sensing investigation of planetary bodies, the optical properties of such layers are
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essential to know (Muinonen et al., 2002). It is therefore mandatory to experimentally

investigate the formation, evolution and the physical properties of artificial regolith in the
laboratory under realistic gravity conditions. In addition to that, the long-term evolution
of asteroidal bodies is determined by the Yarkovsky effect, the anisotropic reemission of
absorbed solar radiation, which leads to considerable orbital changes over the lifetime of
the solar system (Bottke et al., 2002). Loose granular layers on asteroidal surfaces have a
much lower heat conductivity than densely packed regolith so that the strength of the
Yarkovsky effect is also dependent on the formation and evolution of the regolith layer.

Thus, the impact of the gravitational acceleration on granular flow is of importance for
understanding the geology of other planets and to clarify the environments that may be
encountered during planetary exploration. An ideal study of gravitational effects related
to the geology of planets and issues of moving granular materials for construction of
human habitats should include granular surface shear flows related to heaping and
avalanching and the systematic investigations of fundamental parameters of granular
media and their dependence on gravitational acceleration.

2 Experimental method
To examine the flow behaviour under reduced gravity conditions various granulates and
various types of experimental cells were chosen to study different characteristics. The
experimental cells were: (i) a flat quasi 2D sandglass (Fig. 1b), (ii) a so called avalanche
box (Fig. 1c) and (iii) a rotating tumbler (Fig. 1d). The experiments were carried out in
the Bremen drop tower facility which provides microgravity conditions for 4.7s by
dropping a sealed capsule (Fig. 1a) in a 110m vacuum tube. The desired effect of varying
the effective acceleration acting on the experimental cells was achieved by mounting the
cells on a centrifuge platform within the drop capsule whose rotation speed could be
modified between 7.05rpm and 70.5rpm corresponding to an equivalent of 0.01 g and 1 g
at the reference radius where g denotes the gravitational acceleration on Earth.

With the sandglass cell the static angle of repose can be measured in the heap forming in
the lower compartment of the cell (the mound angle) as well as in the upper compartment
from which the sand is draining (the crater angle). A second parameter studied with the
sandglass setup is the volume flux as a function of g-level. At the beginning of the
experiment the upper compartment is filled with basalt glass beads of 0.5mm diameter
(Fig. 1e) and closed by a shutter.

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(d)
(b)
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(e)

(f)

(a) (c)
Figure 1:Experim entalsetup:(a)The drop tow er capsule consists of4 stringers (length
1.5m )and various platform s.The experim entalcells (tw o sandglasses,an avalanche box,
and a rotating tum bler) w ere m ounted on a centrifuge platform (d=60cm ). The
experim ents w ere continuously observed by cam eras and digitally recorded.D uring the
free-fall phase pow er is supplied by batteries. The capsule is sealed against the drop
tow er vacuum by an outer sleeve (not show n on the picture) so that inside the capsule
am bientpressure is present.(b)A sandglass cell,6x8x0.5 cm .(c)A valanche box,4x4x10
cm . (d) R otating tum bler, w ith 55m m diam eter and 5m m depth. (e) B asalt glass beads,
w ith 0.5m m diam eter.(f)Sand,w ith 0.3m m diam eter.

The release of the capsule and thus the change in g-level is coupled with the opening of
the shutter. The physical behaviour of the granular material in the sandglass experiments
is observed by video cameras. The centrifuge platform starts rotating before the release
of the platform so that, upon the release of the platform, the effective acceleration
changes in both value and direction. Before the drop the effective acceleration is the
vector sum of centrifugal acceleration and Earth gravitation. During the drop the
effective acceleration comprises of the centrifugal acceleration directed outward only.
The two sandglasses differ in orientation. One is placed laying flat on the centrifuge
platform so that the Coriolis force is pointing sideways in the cell. The other is placed on
the small side perpendicular to the centrifuge platform so that the Coriolis force is
directed towards the front glass which is favourable because the particles are less
influenced in their paths (as shown in Fig. 1b).

The avalanche box is filled at experiment start in the bottom third with the angular
shaped sand of 0.3mm diameter (Fig. 1f). Upon release of the capsule the direction of the
force vector changes suddenly causing the material to flow out sideways. This allows to
observe the reformation of the surface as function of time, g-level and material.

With the rotating tumbler the dynamic angle of repose can be measured as a function of
material, tumbler rotation rate and g-level.

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3 Results

3.1 Sandglasses
The angle of repose was measured from multiple frames extracted from the video
images. The frames were evaluated using the image processing algorithms of Matlab
(Mathworks Inc.) to apply a linear fit to the surface and determining the slope angle.
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(a) (b)

Figure 2: Static angle of repose as a function of g-levelusing basalt glass beads of 0.5
m m diam eter as a sam ple.(a)A ngle ofrepose (m ound angle)in the bottom container.(b)
A ngle of repose (crater angle) in the upper container.The m ound angle show s a strong
dependency on g-level,w hereas the craterangle seem s to be independentofg.

Fig. 2a shows the angle of repose of the growing heap as a function of g-level. With
decreasing g-level the angle of repose becomes steeper. Fig. 2b shows the angle of the
crater forming in the upper reservoir as a function of g-level. Here, no g-level
dependence is evident. We note, that different factors influence the characteristic slope
angles of granular materials (Duran, 2000). A first factor, stated by Duran (2000), is of
geometrical nature and involves the curvature of a pile. His measurements show that the
crater angle is larger than the mound angle for several granular materials. Resulting from
that a difference could be expected at different g-levels but with similar curves in both
cases. This was not confirmed by the experimental results which show a g-dependence
for the mound angle but no dependence for the crater angle. A second factor is of
dynamical nature which leads to a different situation for the upper container compared to
the bottom container. In the upper container the situation is a static one with mainly
geometrical conditions for the particles to move or stay. In the bottom container,
however, the particles arrive with a certain speed forming the heap and that speed is g-
dependent.

With decreasing g-level the particles falling from the upper container are accelerated less
and thus leave the orifice with lower velocity. This has an effect on the overall mass
throughput which decreases with decreasing g-level. Due to the flat (quasi 2D) geometry
of the sandglass experiment, the amount of material transported through the orifice could
easily be estimated.

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Figure 3:M ass throughputas a function ofg-levelshow s a pow erlaw ofthe form
dm /dt~ g ,w ith = 0.65.

Each image recorded during the free-fall phase of the experiment was binarized and the
total area occupied by the lower particle heap was measured. This area is proportional to
the mass of the deposited heap. A plot of the heap's cross sectional area as a function of
time after opening the orifice shows a perfectly linear behaviour until the particle
reservoir is exhausted. A log-log plot of the so-defined mass throughput versus the g-
level at which the experiment was performed shows a power law of the form dm/dt ~ g ,
with = 0.65 (see Fig. 3).

3.2 Avalanche box

Whereas the sandglass experiments showed a clear dependence of the angle of repose on
the g level in the growing heap of granular matter, the results of the avalanche
experiments seem to be independent of the residual gravity. Although the speed with
which the avalanche runs down decreases with decreasing g level, the developing surface
pattern (see Fig. 4) is independent of g. Table 1 shows the results obtained so far.

It is obvious from the data in Table 1 that the major parameter influencing the angle of
repose in tilt-box experiments is the sample type and not the gravity level. Angular
particles (like the sand grains used in our experiments) have a much larger angle of
repose than the spherical basalt and glass beads.

Sample Gravity level [g] Slope angle [degrees]

0.3 19.5 ± 1.0
Basalt spheres 0.1 20.2 ± 1.0
0.01 20.8 ± 1.0
1 29.9 ± 0.8
Sand I 0.33 31.3 ± 0.8
0.03 31.3 ± 0.8
1 19.7 ± 2.0
Glass beads + basalt spheres 0.1 20.4 ± 2.0
0.03 20.3 ± 2.0

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Table 1:R esults from the avalanche box experim ents.

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Figure 4: Top: sam ple im age from the tilt-box experim ents. A fter the avalanche has
stopped,the sand sam ple (low er right) show s a slope pattern that can be recognized by
im age analysis. B ottom : In the non-curved part of the avalanche, the surface of the
sam ple (data points)is fitted by a straightline to determ ine the slope angle (solid line).

3.3 Rotating tumbler

The dynamic angle of repose, as measured in the rotating tumbler, is a characteristic
parameter reflecting the potential energy, frictional level, and particle features of the
surface flow. The system has been under investigation with a variation in g-level from
25g to 1g (Brucks et al., 2007). The key result of that investigation was a confirmation
that scaling relations for granular surface flows developed on Earth at 1g can be extended
to other gravitational accelerations, when scaled according to the Froude number. The
Froude number is a dimensionless number which is defined as Fr = 2 R / g eff , where
denotes the angular velocity of the rotating tumbler, R the tumbler radius, and g eff the
effectively acting acceleration on the tumbler.

In this investigation we complementary extended the g-level variation from 1g down to

0.01g. We found that with g-levels below 0.03g the effect of surface forces becomes
effectively visible and the values of the dynamic angle of repose start to lie outside the
prediction range. The results indicate that a lower boundary in the scalability, proposed
in Brucks et al. (2007), exists due to the increasing influence of cohesion forces as the g-
level is decreased. Further detailed investigations have to be conducted.

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4 Conclusions
We performed experiments on granular flow behaviour under reduced gravity conditions
with the intention to study the physics of regolith surfaces of small solar system bodies.
To reach g-levels between 0.01 g and 1 g, we used the Bremen microgravity drop tower
and a slowly rotating centrifuge, whose radial centrifugal acceleration causes the granular
matter to flow. In three different experiment types, i.e. a sandglass experiment, an
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avalanche experiment, and a rotating tumbler, we studied the different angles of repose
and the mass throughput in the above acceleration range and with different granular-
matter samples. The main results are that in the sandglass experiments the mound angle
shows a rather strong increase with decreasing g, whereas the crater angle remains
constant. The mass throughput through the sandglass orifice is constant with time and
follows a power-law dependence of g, with an exponent of = 0.65. The avalanche
experiments showed no g-dependence of the slope angle, which was, however, strongly
dependent on the morphology of the grains. In the tumbler experiments, we observed
deviations from the universal scaling law based upon the Froude number for the lowest
g-levels, which we attribute to the increasing importance of inter-particle forces with
decreasing acceleration. The results of our experiments can be used in the modelling of
the composition of remotely-observed surfaces of small solar system bodies as well as in
designing landing, rovering, and drilling equipments for further interplanetary missions.

5 Acknowledgements
The experiments were funded by the Universities of Bremen and Braunschweig. The
drop tower flights were funded by the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt
(DLR). We acknowledge the help of our students Stefan Bruns, Bastian Gundlach,
Ferdinand Lipps, Christina Polenzky, Daniel Rademacher, Annika Voss, Björn
Willenberg, and Albert Werner.

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