We examine the impact of a solid sphere into a fine-grained granular bed. Using high-speed X-ray radiography we track both the motion of the sphere and local changes in the bed packing fraction. Varying the initial packing density as well as the ambient gas pressure, we find a complete reversal in the effect of interstitial gas on the impact response of the bed: The dynamic coupling between gas and grains allows for easier penetration in initially loose beds but impedes penetration in more densely packed beds. High-speed imaging of the local packing density shows that these seemingly incongruous effects have a common origin in the resistance to bed packing changes caused by interstitial air.
We present a new mechanism for the fluidization of a vibrated granular bed in the presence of interstitial air. We show that the air flow induced across the bed, as the gap in the bottom of the cell evolves, can fluidize the bed in a similar way as in gas-fluidized {\it static} beds. We use the model of Kroll to quantify the relevant variables suggested by the mechanism proposed. The relevance of the above fluidization for segregation phenomena is discussed.
Understanding the coupled thermo-mechanical behaviour of compacted granular beds can benefit various industrial applications, such as pebble bed design in fusion reactors. In this study, a thermo-mechanical discrete element method based on our previous work is improved and adapted to investigate the cyclic thermo-mechanical performance of gas-filled granular materials composed of elastoplastic grains. An interparticle contact model is developed considering the plastic deformation of grains. Through the simulation on a representative volume element of beryllium pebble beds, we provide grain-sca…
We investigate the mechanical behavior of a confined granular packing of irregular polyhedral particles under repeated heating and cooling cycles by means of numerical simulations with the Non-Smooth Contact Dynamics method. Assuming a homogeneous temperature distribution as well as constant temperature rate, we study the effect of the container shape, and coefficients of thermal expansions on the pressure buildup at the confining walls and the density evolution. We observe that small changes in the opening angle of the confinement can lead to a drastic peak pressure reduction. Furthermore, th…
Impulses efficiently propagate into nominally dry granular beds and backscatter from buried inclusions in such beds may be potentially exploited to image shallow buried objects (SBOs). However, reliable imaging of SBOs requires ``cleaning up'' of surface vibrations, and, in addition to 3D particle dynamics simulations, a phenomenological model to parameterize the bed surface may be useful for field applications. We introduce a 1D mean-field-like toy model with two parameters that allows one to model surface vibrations, is consistent with experiments in a granular bed, and can help estimate the…
We performed molecular dynamics simulations of granular beds driven by a model hydrodynamic shear flow to elucidate general grain-scale mechanisms that determine the onset and cessation of sediment transport. By varying the Shields number (the nondimensional shear stress at the top of the bed) and particle Reynolds number (the ratio of particle inertia to viscous damping), we explore how variations of the fluid flow rate, particle inertia, and fluid viscosity affect the onset and cessation of bed motion. For low to moderate particle Reynolds numbers, a critical boundary separates mobile and st…
We study the structural properties of two-dimensional granular packings prepared by random deposition from a source line. We consider a class of random ballistic deposition models based on single-particle relaxation rules controlled by a critical angle, and we show that these local rules can be formulated as rolling friction in the framework of dynamic methods for the simulation of granular materials. We find that a packing prepared by random deposition models is generically unstable, and undergoes dynamic rearrangements. As a result, the dynamic method leads systematically to a higher solid f…
We experimentally study intrusion into fluid-saturated granular beds by a free-falling sphere, varying particle size and fluid viscosity. We test our results against Darcy-Reynolds theory, where the deceleration of the sphere is controlled by Reynolds dilatancy and the Darcy flow resistance. We find the observed intruder dynamics are consistent with Darcy-Reynolds theory for varied particle size. We also find that our experimental results for varied viscosity are consistent with Darcy-Reynolds theory, but only for a limited range of the viscosity. For large viscosities, observed forces begin t…
We present results from four independent models of a granular assembly subjected to tapping. We find that the steady-state packing fraction as a function of the tapping intensity is nonmonotonic. In particular, for high tapping intensities, we observe an increase of the packing fraction with tapping strength. This finding challenges the current understanding of compaction of granular media since the steady-state packing fraction is believed to decrease monotonically with increasing tapping intensity. We propose an explanation of our results based on the properties of the arches formed by the p…
We report experimental studies of the effect of interstitial gas on mass-density-segregation in a vertically-vibrated mixture of equal-sized bronze and glass spheres. Sufficiently strong vibration in the presence of interstitial gas induces vertical segregation into sharply separated bronze and glass layers. We find that the segregated steady state (i.e., bronze or glass layer on top) is a sensitive function of gas pressure and viscosity, as well as vibration frequency and amplitude. In particular, we identify distinct regimes of behavior that characterize the change from bronze-on-top to glas…
When a jet of gas impinges vertically on a granular bed and forms a crater, the grains may be moved by several different mechanisms: viscous erosion, diffused gas eruption, bearing capacity failure, and/or diffusion-driven shearing. The relative importance of these mechanisms depends upon the flow regime of the gas, the mechanical state of the granular material, and other physical parameters. Here we report research in two specific regimes: viscous erosion forming scour holes as a function of particle size and gravity; and bearing capacity failure forming deep transient craters as a function o…
We prepare static granular beds under gravity in different stationary states by tapping the system with pulsed excitations of controlled amplitude and duration. The macroscopic state---defined by the ensemble of static configurations explored by the system tap after tap---for a given tap intensity and duration is studied in terms of volume, V, and force moment tensor, Σ. In a previous paper [Pugnaloni et al., Phys. Rev. E 82, 050301(R) (2010)], we reported evidence supporting that such macroscopic states cannot be fully described by using only V or Σ, apart from the number of particles N. In t…
The dynamics of granular plugs in water fluidized beds in narrow tubes is investigated here both experimentally and numerically. The fluidized beds were formed in a 25.4 mm-ID tube and consisted of alumina beads with 6 mm diameter and specific gravity of 3.69; therefore, the ratio between the tube and grain diameters was 4.23, which is considered a very narrow case. Three different beds were arranged, consisting of 250, 400 and 500 beads, and two water flow rates were imposed, corresponding, respectively, to superficial velocities of 0.137 and 0.164 m/s and to Reynolds numbers based on the tub…
Understanding the penetration dynamics of intruders in granular beds is relevant not only for fundamental Physics, but also for geophysical processes and construction on sediments or granular soils in areas potentially affected by earthquakes. While the penetration of intruders in two dimensional (2D) laboratory granular beds can be followed using video recording, it is useless in three dimensional (3D) beds of non-transparent materials such as common sand. Here we propose a method to quantify the sink dynamics of an intruder into laterally shaken granular beds based on the temporal correlatio…
A simplified model has previously described the inductive charging of colliding identical grains in the presence of an external electric field. Here we extend that model by including heterogeneous surface charge distributions, grain rotations and electrostatic interactions between grains. We find from this more realistic model that strong heterogeneities in charging can occur in agitated granular beds, and we predict that shielding due to these heterogeneities can dramatically alter the charging rate in such beds.
The propagation of mechanical energy in granular materials has been intensively studied in recent years given the wide range of fields that have processes related to this phenomena, from geology to impact mitigation and protection of buildings and structures. In this paper, we experimentally explore the effect of an interstitial fluid on the dynamics of the propagation of a mechanical pulse in a granular packing under controlled confinement pressure. The experimental results reveal the occurrence of an elastohydrodynamic mechanism at the scale of the contacts between wet particles. We describe…
We study the direction-dependent drag acting on a cylindrical solid intruder with length $L$ and diameter $D$ as it moves in water-saturated granular beds at constant depth. Polysterene and hydrogel grains with diameter $d$ are used to investigate materials which have high contact friction and those which are nearly frictionless, respectively. The drag on the intruder is measured while oriented perpendicular $F_\perp$ and parallel $F_\parallel$ to its axis as a function of speed $U$ from the quasi-static to the rate-dependent regime. We find that the drag anisotropy $ξ= F_\perp/F_\parallel$ is…
We use three-dimensional particle dynamics simulations, coupled with volume-averaged gas phase hydrodynamics, to study vertically vibrated gas-fluidized beds of fine, cohesive powders. The volume-averaged interstitial gas flow is restricted to be one-dimensional (1D). This simplified model captures the spontaneous development of 1D traveling waves, which corresponds to bubble formation in real fluidized beds. We use this model to probe the manner in which vibration and gas flow combine to influence the dynamics of cohesive particles. We find that as the gas flow rate increases, cyclic pressure…
Understanding the penetration dynamics of intruders in granular beds is relevant not only for fundamental physics, but also for geophysical processes and construction on sediments or granular soils in areas potentially affected by earthquakes. In this work, we use Lock-in accelerometry to study the penetration of intruders into quasi-2D granular matter fluidized by lateral shaking. We observed that there are two well-defined stages in the penetration dynamics as the intruder sinks into the granular material.
Using the discrete element method (DEM), we study the splash processes induced by the impact of a grain on two types of granular beds, namely, randomly packed and FCC-structured beds.Good correspondence is obtained between our numerical results and the findings of previous experiments, and it is demonstrated that the packing structure of the granular bed strongly affects the splash process.The mean ejection angle for the randomly packed bed is consistent with previous experimental results. The FCC-structured bed yields a larger mean ejection angle; however, the latter result has not been confi…
A particle dynamics-based hybrid model, consisting of monodisperse spherical solid particles and volume-averaged gas hydrodynamics, is used to study traveling planar waves (one-dimensional traveling waves) of voids formed in gas-fluidized beds of narrow cross sectional areas. Through ensemble-averaging in a co-traveling frame, we compute solid phase continuum variables (local volume fraction, average velocity, stress tensor, and granular temperature) across the waves, and examine the relations among them. We probe the consistency between such computationally obtained relations and constitutive…
We report on the nature of flow events for the gravity-driven discharge of glass beads through a hole that is small enough that the hopper is susceptible to clogging. In particular, we measure the average and standard deviation of the distribution of discharged masses as a function of both hole and grain sizes. We do so in air, which is usual, but also with the system entirely submerged under water. This damps the grain dynamics and could be expected to dramatically affect the distribution of the flow events, which are described in prior work as avalanche-like. Though the flow is slower and th…
Erosion shapes our landscape and occurs when a sufficient shear stress is exerted by a fluid on a sedimented layer. What controls erosion at a microscopic level remains debated, especially near the threshold forcing where it stops. Here we study experimentally the collective dynamics of the moving particles, using a set-up where the system spontaneously evolves toward the erosion onset. We find that the spatial organization of the erosion flux is heterogeneous in space, and occurs along channels of local flux $σ$ whose distribution displays scaling near threshold and follows $P(σ)\sim J/σ$, wh…
We investigate the coupling between interstitial medium and granular particles by studying the hopper flow of dry and submerged system experimentally and numerically. In accordance with earlier studies, we find, that the dry hopper empties at a constant rate. However, in the submerged system we observe the surging of the flow rate. We model both systems using the discrete element method, which we couple with computational fluid dynamics in the case of a submerged hopper. We are able to match the simulations and the experiments with good accuracy. To do that, we fit the particle-particle contac…
We perform an experimental study of granular impact, where intruders strike 2D beds of photoelastic disks from above. High-speed video captures the intruder dynamics and the local granular force response, allowing investigation of grain-scale mechanisms in this process. We observe rich acoustic behavior at the leading edge of the intruder, strongly fluctuating in space and time, and we show that this acoustic activity controls the intruder deceleration, including large force fluctuations at short time scales. The average intruder dynamics match previous studies using empirical force laws, sugg…
Gravel-river beds typically have an "armored" layer of coarse grains on the surface, which acts to protect finer particles underneath from erosion. River bed-load transport is a kind of dense granular flow, and such flows are known to vertically segregate grains. The contribution of granular physics to river-bed armoring, however, has not been investigated. Here we examine these connections in a laboratory river with bimodal sediment size, by tracking the motion of particles from the surface to deep inside the bed, and find that armor develops by two distinct mechanisms. Bed-load transport in …
We measure the drag encountered by a vertically oriented rod moving across a sedimented granular bed immersed in a fluid under steady-state conditions. At low rod speeds, the presence of the fluid leads to a lower drag because of buoyancy, whereas a significantly higher drag is observed with increasing speeds. The drag as a function of depth is observed to decrease from being quadratic at low speeds to appearing more linear at higher speeds. By scaling the drag with the average weight of the grains acting on the rod, we obtain the effective friction $μ_e$ encountered over six orders of magnitu…
We experimentally and computationally study the early-stage forces during intruder impacts with granular beds in the regime where the impact velocity approaches the granular force propagation speed. Experiments use 2D assemblies of photoelastic disks of varying stiffness, and complimentary discrete-element simulations are performed in 2D and 3D. The peak force during the initial stages of impact and the time at which it occurs depend only on the impact speed, the intruder diameter, the mass density of the grains, and the elastic modulus of the grains according to power-law scaling forms that a…
Combining high-speed photography with laser profilometry, we study the dynamics and the morphology of liquid-drop impact cratering in wet granular media---a ubiquitous phenomenon relevant to many important geological, agricultural, and industrial processes. By systematically investigating important variables such as impact energy, the size of impinging drops and the degree of liquid saturation in granular beds, we uncover a novel scaling for the size of impact craters. We show that this scaling can be explained by considering the balance between the inertia of impinging drops and the strength …
A sharp transition between liquefaction and transient solidification is observed during impact on a granular suspension depending on the initial packing fraction. We demonstrate, via high-speed pressure measurements and a two-phase modeling, that this transition is controlled by a coupling between the granular pile dilatancy and the interstitial fluid pressure generated by the impact. Our results provide a generic mechanism for explaining the wide variety of impact responses in particulate media, from dry quicksand in powders to impact-hardening in shear-thickening suspensions like cornstarch.
Non-cohesive granular media exhibit complex responses to sudden impact that often differ from those of ordinary solids and liquids. We investigate how this response is mediated by the presence of interstitial gas between the grains. Using high-speed x-ray radiography we track the motion of a steel sphere through the interior of a bed of fine, loose granular material. We find a crossover from nearly incompressible, fluid-like behavior at atmospheric pressure to a highly compressible, dissipative response once most of the gas is evacuated. We discuss these results in light of recent proposals fo…
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments are described for two granular-flow systems, the vibrofluidized bed and the gas-fluidized bed. Using pulsed field gradient, magnetic resonance imaging, and hyperpolarized gas NMR, detailed information is obtained for the density and motions of both grains and interstitial gas. For the vibrofluidized bed, the granular temperature profile is measured and compared with a first-principles formulation of granular hydrodynamics. For the gas-fluidized bed, dynamic correlations in the grain density are used to measure the bubble velocity and hyperpolarized …
The stability of sand castles is determined by the structure of wet granulates. Experimental data about the size distribution of fluid pockets are ambiguous about their origin. We discovered that contact angle hysteresis plays a fundamental role in the equilibrium distribution of bridge volumes, and not geometrical disorder as commonly conjectured, which has substantial consequences on the mechanical properties of wet granular beds, including a history dependent rheology and lowered strength. Our findings are obtained using a novel model where the Laplace pressures, bridge volumes and contact …
Structural characteristics are considered to be the dominant factors in determining the effective properties of granular media, particularly in the scope of transport phenomena. Towards improved heat management, thermal transport in granular media requires an improved fundamental understanding. In this study, the effects of packing structure on heat transfer in granular media are evaluated at macro- and grain-scales. At the grain-scale, a gas-solid coupling heat transfer model is adapted into a discrete-element-method to simulate this transport phenomenon. The numerical framework is validated …
When an intruder strikes a granular material from above, the grains exert a stopping force which decelerates and stops the intruder. Many previous studies have used a macroscopic force law, including a drag force which is quadratic in velocity, to characterize the decelerating force on the intruder. However, the microscopic origins of the force law terms are still a subject of debate. Here, drawing from previous experiments with photoelastic particles, we present a model which describes the velocity-squared force in terms of repeated collisions with clusters of grains. From our high speed phot…
Granular suspensions present a transition from a Newtonian rheology in the Stokes limit to a Bagnoldian rheology when inertia is increased. A custom rheometer which can be run in a pressure or a volume-imposed mode is used to examine this transition in the dense regime close to jamming. By varying systematically the interstitial fluid, shear rate, and packing fraction in volume-imposed measurements, we show that the transition takes place at a Stokes number of 10 independent of the packing fraction. Using pressure-imposed rheometry, we investigate whether the inertial and viscous regimes can b…
We present a multiscale simulation algorithm for amorphous materials, which we illustrate and validate in a canonical case of dense granular flow. Our algorithm is based on the recently proposed Spot Model, where particles in a dense random packing undergo chain-like collective displacements in response to diffusing "spots" of influence, carrying a slight excess of interstitial free volume. We reconstruct the microscopic dynamics of particles from the "coarse grained" dynamics of spots by introducing a localized particle relaxation step after each spot-induced block displacement, simply to enf…
The transport coefficients of a dilute gas of inelastic hard spheres immersed in a molecular gas are determined. We assume that the number density of the granular gas is much smaller than that of the surrounding molecular gas, so that the latter is not affected by the presence of solid particles. In this situation, the molecular gas may be treated as a thermostat (or bath) of elastic hard spheres at a fixed temperature. This system (granular gas thermostated by a bath of elastic hard spheres) can be considered as a reliable model for describing the dynamic properties of particle-laden suspensi…
Submerged granular hoppers exhibit an unexpected surge in discharge rate as they empty [Wilson et al. 2015]. With a more sensitive apparatus, we find that this surge depends on hopper diameter and also happens in air --- though the effect is smaller and previously unnoticed. We also find that the surge may be turned off by fixing the rate of fluid flow through the granular packing. With no flow control, dye injected on top of the packing gets drawn into the grains, at a rate that increases as the hopper empties. Thus we conclude that the surge is caused by a self-generated pumping of fluid thr…
In this review, a theoretical description is provided for the solid (granular) phase of the gas-solid flows that are the focus of this book. Emphasis is placed on the fundamental concepts involved in deriving a macroscopic hydrodynamic description for the granular material in terms of the hydrodynamic fields (species densities, flow velocity, and the granular temperature) from a prescribed "microscopic" interaction among the grains. To this end, the role of the interstitial gas phase, body forces such as gravity, and other coupling to the environment are suppressed and retained only via a poss…
Predicting rapid and slower soil evolution remains a scientific challenge. This process involves poorly understood aspects of disordered granular matter and dense suspension dynamics. This study presents a novel two-dimensional experiment on a small-scale chip structure; this allows the observation of the deformation at the particle scale of a large-grained sediment bed, under conditions where friction dominate over cohesive and thermal forces, and with an imposed fluid flow. Experiments are performed at conditions which span the particle resuspension criterion, and particle motion is detected…
Granular material that is bound by the low gravity of a small asteroid is mobilized by slow velocity impacts. These splashes generated by impacts might play an important role in sculpting the asteroid's surface. In laboratory experiments we characterize the ejecta generated by spherical 150 $\rm μm$ diameter basalt grains impacting a granular bed at 0.8 m/s. We find that such an impact typically leads to less than 10 particles being ejected from the granular bed, with typical ejecta trajectories rising to less than one particle diameter above the surface. That is, the observed impacts are high…
Many fast-flowing glaciers and ice streams move over beds consisting of reworked sediments and erosional products, commonly referred to as till. The complex interplay between ice, meltwater, and till at the subglacial bed connects several fundamental problems in glaciology including the debate about rapid mass loss from the ice sheets, the formation and evolution of subglacial landforms, and the storage and transport of subglacial water. In-situ measurements have probed the subglacial bed, but provide surprisingly variable and seemingly inconsistent evidence of the depth where deformation occu…
The diffusion and flow of amorphous materials, such as glasses and granular materials, has resisted a simple microscopic description, analogous to defect theories for crystals. Early models were based on either gas-like inelastic collisions or crystal-like vacancy diffusion, but here we propose a cooperative mechanism for dense random-packing dynamics, based on diffusing ``spots'' of interstitial free volume. Simulations with the Spot Model can efficiently generate realistic flowing packings, and yet the model is simple enough for mathematical analysis. Starting from a non-local stochastic dif…
Sediment transport occurs when the nondimensional fluid shear stress $Θ$ at the bed surface exceeds a minimum value $Θ_c$. A large collection of data, known as the Shields curve, shows that $Θ_c$ is primarily a function of the shear Reynolds number ${\rm{Re}}_*$. It is commonly assumed that $Θ>Θ_c({\rm{Re}}_*)$ occurs when the ${\rm Re}_*$-dependent fluid forces are too large to maintain static equilibrium for a typical surface grain. A complimentary approach, which remains relatively unexplored, is to identify $Θ_c({\rm{Re}}_*)$ as the applied shear stress at which grains cannot stop moving. …
