Probing the validity of an effective-one-particle description of granular dampers in microgravity

We consider the attenuation of the oscillation of a flat spring due to the action of a granular damper. The efficiency of the damper is quantified by evaluating the position of the oscillator as a function of time using a Hall effect based position sensor. Performing experiments for a large abundance of parameters under conditions of microgravity, we confirm a recent theory for granular damping (Kollmer et al. in New J Phys 15:093023, 2013 ) and show that the theory remains approximately valid even beyond the limits of its derivation.