Motion of a particle on a rough inclined plane : Comparison of 2 and 3 dimensionsS

S. Dippel H ochstleistungsrechenzentrum, Forschungszentrum J ulich, 52425 J ulich, Germany G. G. Batrouni Institut Non-Lin eaire de Nice, Universit e de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, 1361 routes des Lucioles, 06560 Valbonne, France D. E. Wolf Gerhard-Mercator-Universitat, FB 10, 47048 Duisburg, Germany ABSTRACT: Numerical studies of the motion of a ball on a rough incline have shown that the steady state velocity depends mainly on four geometrical properties: the radius of the ball, the dimensionality, the slope and the roughness of the surface. By contrast, material properties like the normal coe cient of restitution en and the friction coe cient hardly in uence the velocity, but determine the range of the other parameters for which a steady state exists. We compare a ball moving along an inclined line consisting of randomly spaced spheres (2D case) with one moving on a plane covered randomly with spheres (3D case) and discuss the reasons for di erences and similarities in the behaviour.