Increase Material Flow Using Applied Vibration as Opposed to Manual Intervention
Vibrators reduce the cohesion between the material particles and the adhesion between the particles and the wall to increase the flow of material.
A piston vibrator is mounted on the side of a transfer chute. The piston vibrator was developed to produce this pounding effect without actually swinging a hammer. The relationship between the bulk material and the frequency of vibration best suited to stimulate that material is proportional to particle size. As a general rule, the smaller the particle, the better it responds to higher vibration frequencies. The relationship between the amplitude of vibration and the bulk material is based on cohesive and adhesive forces. As the particle size increases, the amplitude required to cause the bulk material to move increases. Particles that are fine and free-flowing (low cohesive) tend to respond well to small amplitudes of vibration; free-flowing particles that are larger respond better to larger amplitudes. Particles that are sticky tend to build up in solid masses that respond well to low-frequency, high-amplitude vibration. Generally, the direction of the rotation or the stroke of the vibrator’s mass should be in the direction of the desired flow of the material.