We measure the front velocity as a function of the applied acceleration. This phenomenon is explained by a model based on a single vibrated particle with multiple attractors that is perturbed by collisions. A simulation shows that a sufficiently high rate of interparticle collisions can prevent trapping in the attractor corresponding to the non-moving ground state. Growth of the gaseous area A for two peak accelerations of the plate at various bead coverages and vibration frequencies.
Smaller frequencies lead to faster melting.
Lower coverage leads to faster melting for large areas only. Larger accelerations always lead to faster growth. In addition, preliminary experiments on binary mixtures of different size particles are carried out to study size segregation and changes in energy sharing. The tendency to segregate is found to be strongly frequency-dependent.