Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

A Continuum Constitutive Model for Cohesionless Granular Flows

Journal Article · · Chemical Engineering Science, 62(5):1343-1350

A constitutive model is developed to represent shear granular flows of cohesionless solids. The model is based on the postulate that the friction coefficient and the solids fraction in a moving granular material are exclusive functions of the inertial number, which represents the ratio of inertial to normal stress forces. The constitutive equation obtained has the same form as a multidimensional Bingham fluid model, albeit with apparent viscosity and yield stress that depend on the vertical normal stress. The model is applied to previously published experimental results dealing with shear flows of granular beds made up of cohesionless spherical particles. The first case analyzed corresponds to a granular bed moving on top of a rotating disk. The model captures the main trends of the velocity profiles with a single adjustable parameter. The second case is a conventional Couette flow, for which the model is capable of representing the velocity and solids fraction profiles measured experimentally.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
899802
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-51052; KP1302000
Journal Information:
Chemical Engineering Science, 62(5):1343-1350, Journal Name: Chemical Engineering Science, 62(5):1343-1350
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Couette flows of a granular monolayer: An experimental study
Technical Report · Tue Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1995 · OSTI ID:78828

Granular flows down bumpy inclines
Conference · Mon Dec 30 23:00:00 EST 1991 · OSTI ID:10149312

Granular flows down bumpy inclines
Conference · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1990 · OSTI ID:5221101