70th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (November 19, 2017 — November 21, 2017)

V0022: Chain coiling and impinging

Authors

• N. A. Corbin, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• J. A. Hanna, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• W. R. Royston, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• H. Singh, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• R. B. Warner, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2017.GFM.V0022

Here we confirm and further explore an effect noted and debated by other groups (Hamm and Géminard Am J Phys 78 828-833 2010 ; Grewal, Johnson, and Ruina Am J Phys 79 723-729 2011 and 981 2011), in which an anomalous extra acceleration is induced during impact of a ball-and-link chain with a surface, such that the chain’s trailing end descends faster than that of a chain in free fall.  It is possible to exaggerate or suppress this effect by changing the tilt of the impact surface.  The extra distance traveled by the impacting chain exhibits a complicated non-monotonic dependence on the tilt, reflecting the presence of more than one mechanism.  Using the white Lagrangian markers, we have determined that the extra acceleration begins after the onset of coiling for low tilt angles.  At higher tilt angles, coiling no longer occurs, and the compressibility of the chain appears to play a role in suppressing the acceleration for some angles.