Ultrasonic probing of cohesive granular media at very low consolidation

In this work, we study sound propagation in different granular media made of magnetite particles, steel particles, and glass beads consolidated under their own weight. We used two ultrasonic non invasive methods, which are found in good agreement, to estimate the longitudinal wave velocity Vp. In the first one, the velocity is determined through the resonance peaks of the powder slab. The second method determines the velocity with the time of flight of a short pulse traveling through the medium. Magnetite and steel samples show dispersive properties below a frequency ∼ 10 kHz. The increase of attractive forces between particles lead to two competing effects; on one hand the solid fraction decreases and on the other hand the contacts are stiffer. A decrease in solid fraction implies that the number of contacts decreases leading to a decrease in the wave propagation velocity. On the other hand stronger contacts on average lead to an increase of sound velocity. In our experiments an increase in powder cohesion (caused by a decrease of the bead diameter) leads to an increase in sound velocity even though the solid fraction decreases. The same behavior is found in glass beads. These results show the predominant role of cohesive forces on sound propagation in loosely consolidated dry fine powders as well as the accuracy of ultrasonic methods for powder characterization.