Effect of bead chains on the angle of repose

Abstract

We demonstrate that the stability of a granular medium composed of spherical beads can be improved upon the addition of bead chains or thread-like connections between beads. Experiments were performed to investigate how the angle of repose is affected by (a) chain length and (b) the mass ratio of bead chains present in the medium. It was observed that θ_r can increase up to 90° when the chain length is greater than the critical length L_crit = 10 beads. Also, as more bead chains are added, the angle of repose of the granular pile increases monotonically.