Cornerstones are the key stones: using interpretable machine learning to probe the clogging process in 2D granular hoppers

The sudden arrest of flow by formation of a stable arch over an outlet is a unique and characteristic feature of granular materials. Previous work suggests that grains near the outlet randomly sample configurational flow microstates until a clog-causing flow microstate is reached. However, factors that lead to clogging remain elusive. Here we experimentally observe over 50 000 clogging events for a tridisperse mixture of quasi-2D circular grains, and utilize a variety of machine learning (ML) methods to search for predictive signatures of clogging microstates. This approach fares just modestly better than chance. Nevertheless, our analysis using linear Support Vector Machines (SVMs) highlights the position of potential arch cornerstones as a key factor in clogging likelihood. We verify this experimentally by varying the position of a fixed (cornerstone) grain, which we show non-monotonically alters the average time and mass of each flow by dictating the size of feasible flow-ending arches. Positioning this grain correctly can even increase the ejected mass by 70%. Our findings suggest a bottom-up arch formation process, and demonstrate that interpretable ML algorithms like SVMs, paired with experiments, can uncover meaningful physics even when their predictive power is below the standards of conventional ML practice.