The shearing instability of a dilute granular mixture composed of smooth inelastic hard spheres or disks is investigated. By using the Navier-Stokes hydrodynamic equations, it is shown that the scaled transversal velocity mode exhibits a divergent behaviour, similarly to what happens in one-component systems. The theoretical prediction for the critical size is compared with direct Monte Carlo simulations of the Boltzmann equations describing the system, and a good agreement is found. The total energy fluctuations in the vicinity of the transition are shown to scale with the second moment of the distribution. The scaling distribution function is the same as found in other equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase transitions, suggesting the existence of some kind of universality.
The self-diffusion coefficient of a granular gas in the homogeneous cooling state is analyzed near the shearing instability. Using mode-coupling theory, it is shown that the coefficient diverges logarithmically as the instability is approached, due to the coupling of the diffusion process with the shear modes. The divergent behavior, which is peculiar of granular gases and disappears in the elastic limit, does not depend on any other transport coefficient. The theoretical prediction is confirmed by molecular dynamics simulation results for two-dimensional systems.
Compressed frictional granular matter cannot flow without dilation. Upon forced shearing to generate flow, the amount of dilation may depend on the initial preparation and a host of material variables. On the basis of both experiments and numerical simulations we show that as a result of training by repeated compression-decompression cycles the amount of dilation induced by shearing the system depends only on the shear rate and on the (pre-shearing) packing fraction. Relating the rheological response to structural properties allows us to derive a scaling law for the amount of dilation after $n…
The hydrodynamic part of the velocity autocorrelation function of a granular fluid in the homogeneous cooling state has been calculated by using mode-coupling theory for a finite system with periodic boundary conditions. The existence of the shearing instability, leading to a divergent behavior of the velocity flow fluctuations, is taken into account. A time region in which the velocity autocorrelation function exhibits a power law decay, when time is measured by the number of collisions per particle, has been been identified. Also the explicit form of the exponential asymptotic long time deca…
We develop the kinetic theory of dilute cohesive granular gases in which the attractive part is described by a square well potential. We derive the hydrodynamic equations from the kinetic theory with the microscopic expressions for the dissipation rate and the transport coefficients. We check the validity of our theory by performing the direct simulation Monte Carlo.
We develop the rheology of a dilute granular gas mixture. Motivated by the interaction of charged granular particles, we assume that the grains interact via a square shoulder and well potential. Employing kinetic theory, we compute the temperature and the shear viscosity as functions of the shear rate. Numerical simulations confirm our results above the critical shear rate. At a shear rate below a critical value, clustering of the particles occurs.
We show how a weak force, $f$, enables intruder motion through dense granular materials subject to external mechanical excitations, in the present case stepwise shearing. A force acts on a Teflon disc in a two dimensional system of photoelastic discs. This force is much smaller than the smallest force needed to move the disc without any external excitation. In a cycle, material + intruder are sheared quasi-statically from $γ= 0$ to $γ_{max}$, and then backwards to $γ= 0$. During various cycle phases, fragile and jammed states form. Net intruder motion, $δ$, occurs during fragile periods genera…
The objective of this study is to assess the impact of a dense-phase treatment on the hydrodynamic description of granular, binary mixtures relative to a previous dilute-phase treatment. Two theories were considered for this purpose. The first, proposed by Garzó and Dufty (GD) [Phys. Fluids {\bf 14}, 146 (2002)], is based on the Boltzmann equation which does not incorporate finite-volume effects, thereby limiting its use to dilute flows. The second, proposed by Garzó, Hrenya and Dufty (GHD) [Phys. Rev. E {\bf 76}, 31303 and 031304 (2007)], is derived from the Enskog equation which does account…
Various systems of moment equations---consisting of up to (d+3)(d^2+6d+2)/6 moments---in a general dimension d for a dilute granular gas composed of Maxwell molecules are derived from the inelastic Boltzmann equation by employing the Grad moment method. The Navier--Stokes-level constitutive relations for the stress and heat flux appearing in the system of mass, momentum and energy balance equations are determined from the derived moment equations. It has been shown that the moment equations only for the hydrodynamic field variables (density, velocity and granular temperature), stress and heat …
Rheology of a dilute cohesive granular gas is theoretically and numerically studied. The flow curve between the shear viscosity and the shear rate is derived from the inelastic Boltzmann equation for particles having square-well potentials in a simple shear flow. It is found that (i) the stable uniformly sheared state only exists above a critical shear rate and (ii) the viscosity in the uniformly sheared flow is almost identical to that for uniformly sheared flow of hard core granular particles. Below the critical shear rate, clusters grow with time, in which the viscosity can be approximated …
In a recent paper [F. Vega Reyes et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 028001 (2010)] we presented a preliminary description of a special class of steady Couette flows in dilute granular gases. In all flows of this class the viscous heating is exactly balanced by inelastic cooling. This yields a uniform heat flux and a linear relationship between the local temperature and flow velocity. The class (referred to as the LTu class) includes the Fourier flow of ordinary gases and the simple shear flow of granular gases as special cases. In the present paper we provide further support for this class of Couet…
The stochastic properties of the total internal energy of a dilute granular gas in the steady uniform shear flow state are investigated. A recent theory formulated for fluctuations about the homogeneous cooling state is extended by analogy with molecular systems. The theoretical predictions are compared with molecular dynamics simulation results. Good agreement is found in the limit of weak inelasticity, while systematic and relevant discrepancies are observed when the inelasticity increases. The origin of this behavior is discussed.
The dynamics of an impurity (or tracer particle) immersed in a dilute granular gas under uniform shear flow is investigated. A non-equilibrium phase transition is identified from an exact solution of the inelastic Boltzmann equation for a granular binary mixture in the tracer limit, where the impurity carries either a vanishing (disordered phase) or a finite (ordered phase) fraction of the total kinetic energy of the system. In the disordered phase, the granular temperature ratio (impurity "temperature" over that of the host fluid) is finite, while it diverges in the ordered phase. To correctl…
The existence of two stationary solutions of the nonlinear Boltzmann equation for inelastic hard spheres or disks is investigated. They are restricted neither to weak dissipation nor to small gradients. The one-particle distribution functions are assumed to have an scaling property, namely that all the position dependence occurs through the density and the temperature. At the macroscopic level, the state corresponding to both is characterized by uniform pressure, no mass flow, and a linear temperature profile. Moreover, the state exhibits two peculiar features. First, there is a relationship b…
Dry, freely evolving granular materials in a dilute gaseous state coalesce into dense clusters only due to dissipative interactions. This clustering transition is important for a number of problems ranging from geophysics to cosmology. Here we show that the evolution of a dilute, freely cooling granular gas is determined in a universal way by the ratio of inertial flow and thermal velocities, that is, the Mach number. Theoretical calculations and direct numerical simulations of the granular Navier--Stokes equations show that irrespective of the coefficient of restitution, density or initial ve…
We study a granular gas heated by a stochastic thermostat in the dilute limit. Starting from the kinetic equations governing the evolution of the correlation functions, a Boltzmann-Langevin equation is constructed. The spectrum of the corresponding linearized Boltzmann-Fokker-Planck operator is analyzed, and the equation for the fluctuating transverse velocity is derived in the hydrodynamic limit. The noise term (Langevin force) is thus known microscopically and contains two terms: one coming from the thermostat and the other from the fluctuating pressure tensor. At variance with the free cool…
A linear stability analysis of the hydrodynamic equations of a model for confined quasi-two-dimensional granular gases is carried out. The stability analysis is performed around the homogeneous steady state (HSS) reached eventually by the system after a transient regime. In contrast to previous studies (which considered dilute or quasielastic systems), our analysis is based on the results obtained from the inelastic Enskog kinetic equation, which takes into account the (nonlinear) dependence of the transport coefficients and the cooling rate on dissipation and applies to moderate densities. As…
We investigate a gas of wet granular particles, covered by a thin liquid film. The dynamic evolution is governed by two-particle interactions, which are mainly due to interfacial forces in contrast to dry granular gases. When two wet grains collide, a capillary bridge is formed and stays intact up to a certain distance of withdrawal when the bridge ruptures, dissipating a fixed amount of energy. A freely cooling system is shown to undergo a nonequillibrium dynamic phase transition from a state with mainly single particles and fast cooling to a state with growing aggregates, such that bridge ru…
The decay of a small homogeneous perturbation of the temperature of a dilute granular gas in the steady uniform shear flow state is investigated. Using kinetic theory based on the inelastic Boltzmann equation, a closed equation for the decay of the perturbation is derived. The equation involves the generalized shear viscosity of the gas in the time-dependent shear flow state, and therefore it predicts relevant rheological effects beyond the quasi-elastic limit. A good agreement is found when comparing the theory with molecular dynamics simulation results. Moreover, the Onsager postulate on the…
The temporal evolution of a dilute granular gas, both in a compressible flow (uniform longitudinal flow) and in an incompressible flow (uniform shear flow), is investigated by means of the direct simulation Monte Carlo method to solve the Boltzmann equation. Emphasis is laid on the identification of a first "kinetic" stage (where the physical properties are strongly dependent on the initial state) subsequently followed by an unsteady "hydrodynamic" stage (where the momentum fluxes are well-defined non-Newtonian functions of the rate of strain). The simulation data are seen to support this two-…
We report the study of a new experimental granular Brownian motor, inspired to the one published in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 248001 (2010)], but different in some ingredients. As in that previous work, the motor is constituted by a rotating pawl whose surfaces break the rotation-inversion symmetry through alternated patches of different inelasticity, immersed in a gas of granular particles. The main novelty of our experimental setup is in the orientation of the main axis, which is parallel to the (vertical) direction of shaking of the granular fluid, guaranteeing an isotropic distribution for th…
We report an experimental study of a dilute "gas" of magnetic particles subjected to a vertical alternating magnetic field in a 3D container. Due to the torque exerted by the field on the magnetic moment of each particle, a spatially homogeneous and chaotic forcing is reached where only rotational motions are driven. This forcing differs significantly from boundary-driven systems used in most previous experimental studies on non equilibrium dissipative granular gases. Here, no cluster formation occurs, and the equation of state displays strong analogy with the usual gas one apart from a geomet…
The Boltzmann equation for inelastic and rough hard spheres is considered as a model of a dilute granular gas. In this model, the collisions are characterized by constant coefficients of normal and tangential restitution and hence the translational and rotational degrees of freedom are coupled. A normal solution to the Boltzmann equation is obtained by means of the Chapman-Enskog method for states near the homogeneous cooling state. The analysis is carried out to first order in the spatial gradients of the number density, the flow velocity, and the granular temperature. The constitutive equati…
