Effect of gravity on particle dispersion in a horizontally vibrating bed

![CDATA[Particle dispersion in a horizontally vibrated vessel under microgravity is investigated by a discrete element method (DEM) based numerical model. The vessel is specially designed with the top corners being round shaped, which is to direct the particles inside under microgravity for outer space applications. The effect of gravity is particularly examined by a series of controlled numerical experiments. The dependence of the structure and dynamics of the system, in terms of spatial distribution, local packing density, velocity distribution and kinetic energy, on the magnitude of gravity are quantified. It is found that with the increase of gravity, more particles accumulate on the longitudinal walls, whereas the convective flow of the dispersed particles always exists, until the gravity reaches a certain value and most particles cannot be agitated. The round corner affects the local flow pattern but has limited effects on the overall system with the variance of gravity.]]