Particle Surface Friction Research Articles

Effect of Particle Form and Surface Friction on Macroscopic Shear Flow Friction in Particle Flow System

The damage caused by landslide disasters is very significant. Among them, landslides after forest fires have been widely concerned by scholars in recent years due to their particular physical and chemical properties. This large-scale shear flow of particulate matter has similarities to fluid systems. However, due to the discontinuity of the particle system, its flow process has significant random characteristics. To investigate the random properties of particle systems, this study conducted a series of ring shear tests on four particle systems. The effects of the particle shape, normal stress, and shear velocity on the systems’ shear rheological features were investigated using experimental data. The particle form has an important effect on the macroscopic properties of the system. In a spherical particle system, the macroscopic friction fluctuation is determined by the friction of the particle surface and the system’s normal stress. The shear velocity has a minor effect on this characteristic. Three elements simultaneously influence the macroscopic friction fluctuation of a breccia particle system: the particle surface friction, system normal stress, and shear velocity. The origins of macroscopic frictional fluctuations in particle systems with various shapes are fundamentally distinct. This study contributes to a better understanding of the causes of particle system fluctuations, and establishes the theoretical foundation for the future development of disaster prevention technology.

Fluid‐Driven Transport of Round Sediment Particles: From Discrete Simulations to Continuum Modeling

AbstractBedload sediment transport is ubiquitous in shaping natural and engineered landscapes, but the variability in the relation between sediment flux and driving factors is not well understood. At a given Shields number, the observed dimensionless transport rate can vary over a range in controlled systems and up to several orders of magnitude in natural streams. Here, we (a) experimentally validate a resolved fluid‐grain numerical scheme (Lattice Boltzmann Method‐Discrete Element Method or DEM‐LBM), and use it to (b) explore the parameter space controlling sediment transport in simple systems. Wide wall‐free simulations show the dimensionless transport rate is not influenced by the slope, fluid depth, mean particle size, particle surface friction, or grain‐grain damping for gentle slopes (0.01–0.03) at a medium to high fixed Shields number. (c) Examination of small‐scale fluid‐grain interactions shows fluid torque is non‐negligible for the entrainment and sediment transport near the threshold. And (d) the simulations guide the formulation of continuum models for the transport process. We present an upscaled two‐phase continuum model for grains in a turbulent fluid and validate it against bedload transport DEM‐LBM simulations. To model the creeping granular flow under the bed surface, we use an extension of the Nonlocal Granular Fluidity model, which was previously shown to account for flow cooperativity from grain‐size‐effects in dry media. The model accurately predicts the exponentially decaying velocity profile deeper into the bed.

Incorporation of velocity-dependent restitution coefficient and particle surface friction into kinetic theory for modeling granular flow cooling.

Kinetic theory (KT) has been successfully used to model rapid granular flows in which particle interactions are frictionless and near elastic. However, it fails when particle interactions become frictional and inelastic. For example, the KT is not able to accurately predict the free cooling process of a vibrated granular medium that consists of inelastic frictional particles under microgravity. The main reason that the classical KT fails to model these flows is due to its inability to account for the particle surface friction and its inelastic behavior, which are the two most important factors that need be considered in modeling collisional granular flows. In this study, we have modified the KT model that is able to incorporate these two factors. The inelasticity of a particle is considered by establishing a velocity-dependent expression for the restitution coefficient based on many experimental studies found in the literature, and the particle friction effect is included by using a tangential restitution coefficient that is related to the particle friction coefficient. Theoretical predictions of the free cooling process by the classical KT and the improved KT are compared with the experimental results from a study conducted on an airplane undergoing parabolic flights without the influence of gravity [Y. Grasselli, G. Bossis, and G. Goutallier, Europhys. Lett. 86, 60007 (2009)10.1209/0295-5075/86/60007]. Our results show that both the velocity-dependent restitution coefficient and the particle surface friction are important in predicting the free cooling process of granular flows; the modified KT model that integrates these two factors is able to improve the simulation results and leads to better agreement with the experimental results.

Effect of particle surface friction on nonlocal constitutive behavior of flowing granular media

A recently proposed nonlocal rheology for dense granular flow, based on the concept of nonlocal granular fluidity, has demonstrated predictive capabilities in multiple geometries. This work is concerned with determining how the parameters of this continuum model arise from the properties of the grains themselves. We perform a controlled study investigating how the surface friction of the grains influences the continuum parameters, with a focus on how the nonlocal amplitude, the model’s one new parameter, is affected. This is achieved comparing two-dimensional discrete-element simulations of flowing disks to numerical solutions of the model in planar shear and several annular shear geometries. A multi-step calibration scheme for the continuum parameter extraction is developed and implemented. Results indicate the nonlocal amplitude varies less than an order of magnitude over a wide range of surface frictions, with a slight tendency to increase as surface friction decreases, particularly in a regime of small surface friction. Our data also show that the stress and flow-rate variables deviate little from a local relationship as surface friction vanishes, which corroborates certain existing experimental findings.

VISCOSITY IN PLANETARY RINGS WITH SPINNING SELF-GRAVITATING PARTICLES

Using local N-body simulation, we examine viscosity in self-gravitating planetary rings. We investigate the dependence of viscosity on various parameters in detail, including the effects of particle surface friction. In the case of self-gravitating rings with low optical depth, viscosity is determined by particle random velocity. Inclusion of surface friction slightly reduces both random velocity and viscosity when particle random velocity is determined by inelastic collisions, while surface friction slightly increases viscosity when gravitational encounters play a major role in particle velocity evolution, so that viscous heating balances with increased energy dissipation at collisions due to surface friction. We find that including surface friction changes viscosity in dilute rings up to a factor of about two. In the case of self-gravitating dense rings, viscosity is significantly increased due to the effects of gravitational wakes, and we find that varying restitution coefficients also change viscosity in such dense rings by a factor of about two. We confirm that our numerical results for viscosity in dense rings with gravitational wakes can be well approximated by a semianalytic expression that is consistent with a previously obtained formula. However, we find that this formula seems to overestimate viscosity in dense rings far from the central planet, where temporary gravitational aggregates form. We derive semianalytic expressions that reproduce our numerical results well for the entire range of examined parameters.

Clusters in dense-inertial granular flows

AbstractIn the dense-inertial regime of granular flow, the stresses scale inertially, but the flow is dominated by clusters of particles. This paper describes observations of cluster development in this regime. Clusters were seen to form for both elastic and inelastic reasons: elastic when the shear rate pushes the particles together faster than the contacts can elastically disperse them, and inelastic as large energy dissipation leads to cluster formation. Furthermore, large particle surface friction leads to cluster formation both for structural reasons, because it generates stronger clusters, and for energetic reasons, as friction dissipates energy. However, the most intriguing result of this work is that clusters appear to have little effect on the rheology of the dense inertial regime, which suggests that one can model the dense inertial regime with entirely collisional hard sphere models, and not have to worry about the complexities of modelling clusters. But at the same time it presents a physical puzzle, as one would normally expect the rheology to be strongly dependent on microstructural features such as clusters, particularly as they present an elastic pathway for internal momentum transport. There is no completely satisfying explanation for why the clusters can be ignored, but two possibilities suggest themselves. Because the clusters are short-lived, it is possible that they do not survive long enough to make a significant contribution to the momentum transport. And it is also possible for the granular temperature that governs transport between clusters to act as a rate-limiting bottleneck that is in overall control of the momentum transport rate.

Elastic granular flows of ellipsoidal particles

Granular flow rheology can be divided into two global regimes: the elastic, which is dominated by force chains, and the inertial, which is nearly free of force chains. As the propensity of a material to form force chains should be strongly influenced by particle shape, this paper is an attempt to assess the effects of shape on flow regime transitions through computer simulations of shear flow of ellipsoidal particles. On one hand, the results show that at a given concentration, ellipsoidal particles generate smaller quasistatic stress than spheres, likely a result of their ability to form denser packings. But at the same time, large aspect ratio ellipsoids more readily form force chains and demonstrate elastic behavior at smaller concentrations than spheres. This is shown to be due to a tradeoff between a shear-induced particle alignment that tends to minimize the interference of the particles and the shear flow, and the particle surface friction, which works to rotate the particles into the flow.

UNDERSTANDING FORCE CHAINS IN DENSE GRANULAR MATERIALS

When a load is applied to a dense granular material, the stress is largely transmitted by relatively rigid, heavily stressed chains of particles forming a sparse network of larger contact forces. Force chains act as the key determinant of mechanical properties such as stability, elasticity and flowability. To understand the structure and evolution of force chains, related physical processes and three corresponding characteristic time scales are analyzed in this study. We also propose three dimensionless numbers for the measurement of the relative importance of force chains. To solely study the effect of particle surface friction on force chains, uniaxial compression tests of 11,000 equal-sized particles in 2D were numerically simulated using the discrete element method. By proposing three conditions to define a force chain, the chain length distribution is found in the form of a power law. The exponent of 1.744 is independent of the surface friction. Although these results were obtained from partially crystallized jammed packings, they provide new insight into the physical processes and the structure of force chains, and thus will be helpful in the interpretation of force chains in other dense granular systems.

Influence of Particle Shape and Surface Friction Variability on Response of Rod-Shaped Particulate Media

Discrete element methods are important tools for the investigation of the mechanics of granular materials. In two dimensions, the reliability of these numerical approaches can be explored using physical tests on rod assemblies. This work highlights the importance of representing the actual distribution of rod shapes and surface friction in numerical simulations. The sensitivity of the response of hexagonally packed rods to minor changes in particle geometry and friction is investigated using a combination of laboratory tests and discrete element simulations. Laboratory test results highlight the influence of small variations in rod geometry on the global response, with the peak friction angle decreasing significantly as the standard deviation of the rod size distribution increased. Small changes in rod shape are also seen to be important. The numerical simulations indicate that the peak friction angle decreases as the standard deviation of the distribution of particle surface friction increases. This paper illustrates the way in which laboratory tests and numerical simulations can be used in a complementary manner to better understand the micromechanics of the response of granular materials.

Granular shear flows at the elastic limit

This paper describes computer simulation studies of granular materials under dense conditions where particles are in persistent contact with their neighbours and the elasticity of the material becomes an important rheological parameter. There are two regimes at this limit, one for which the stresses scale with both elastic and inertial properties (called the elastic–inertial regime), and a non-inertial quasi-static regime in which the stresses scale purely elastically (elastic–quasi-static). In these elastic regimes, the forces are generated by internal force chains. Reducing the concentration slightly causes a transition from an elastic to a purely inertial behaviour. This transition occurs so abruptly that a 2% concentration reduction can be accompanied by nearly three orders of magnitude of stress reduction. This indicates that granular flows near this limit are prone to instabilities such as those commonly observed in shear cells. Unexpectedly, there is no path between inertial (rapid) flow and quasi-static flow by varying the shear rate at a fixed concentration; only by reducing the concentration can one cause a transition from quasi-static to inertial flow. The solid concentrations at which this transition occurs as well as the magnitude of the stresses in the elastic regimes are strong functions of the particle surface friction, because the surface friction strongly affects the strength of the force chains. A parametric analysis of the elastic regime generated flowmaps showing the various regimes that might be realized in practice. Many common materials such as sand require such large shear rates to reach the elastic–inertial regime that it is unattainable for all practical purposes; such materials will demonstrate either an elastic–quasi-static behaviour or a pure inertial behaviour depending on the concentration – with many orders of magnitude of stress change between them. Finally, the effects of nonlinear contacts are investigated and an appropriate scaling is proposed that accounts for the nonlinear behaviour in the elastic–quasi-static regime.

Impulse strengths in rapid granular shear flows

This paper describes measurements of the impulses that particles experience while undergoing rapid shear. These were performed with an eye towards understanding the processes that lead to particle attrition and fracture. The measurements were taken from a discrete particle computer simulation of a simple shear flow of spheres. Special attention is paid to the strongest impulses as these will do the most damage. The results indicate that the largest impulses arise, not from the mean shear flow, but from the random particle velocities that are characterized by the so-called “granular temperature”. Measurements of the largest impulses are presented as functions of particle properties and solid concentration. Histograms of the impulse strengths illustrate the effect of concentration and particle surface friction. Finally, geometric distributions are presented that illustrate the shear induced anisotropy in the impulse strengths.