Clogging in bottlenecks

Iker Zuriguel – Univ. de Navarra, Espagne

When a group of discrete bodies pass through a narrowing, the flow might become intermittent due to the development of clogs that obstruct the constriction. Despite the importance of clogging in fields such as crowd dynamics, colloids, granular and active matter, the physical mechanisms behind this phenomenon are still under discussion. Based on experiments of granular silos, we will disclose the main variables involved in the emergence of clogs and their subsequent destabilization by means of an external input of energy. Finally, we will briefly comment on some analogies (and differences) observed with the flow of pedestrians through narrow doors.