Dr. Neil Balmforth
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Granular Flow:
The continuum-like mechanics of a granular media is poorly understood, but I have been
enjoying it with
Richard Kerswell,
Jim McElwaine,
Ian Hewitt and others.
I spent two summers scattering glass balls and sand all over the Coastal Research Lab
at Woods Hole and rotated a drum for months on end at UBC to learn something about this problem
Click to enlarge/download
Dambreak experiments in a granular medium (with Richard Kerswell)
(A swinging gate, suddenly drawn back, releases a pile of grit in a slot that slumps down
to the right)
Drum experiments
(At faster rotation rates, there is continuous flow - rolling)
(with Jim McElwaine)
(Episodic avalanching arises
for higher rotation rate - slumping)