Refraction of shear zones in granular materials

We study strain localization in slow shear flow focusing on layered granular materials. A heretofore unknown effect is presented here. We show that shear zones are refracted at material interfaces in analogy with refraction of light beams in optics. This phenomenon can be obtained as a consequence of a recent variational model of shear zones. The predictions of the model are tested and confirmed by 3D discrete element simulations. We found that shear zones follow Snell's law of light refraction.     

Three-dimensional shear in granular flow

The evolution of granular shear flow is investigated as a function of height in a split-bottom Couette cell. Using particle tracking, magnetic-resonance imaging, and large-scale simulations, we find a transition in the nature of the shear as a characteristic height H* is exceeded. Below H* there is a central stationary core; above H* we observe the onset of additional axial shear associated with torsional failure. Radial and axial shear profiles are qualitatively different: the radial extent is wide and increases with height, while the axial width remains narrow and fixed.     

Transient and oscillatory granular shear flow

The forces and particle motion during transient and oscillatory shear of granular material are investigated experimentally. In a shear cell of Taylor-Couette-type we find that how a granular shear flow starts depends strongly on the prior shear direction. If the shear direction is reversed, the material goes through a transient period during which the material compacts, the shear force is small, and the shear band is wide. Three-dimensional confocal imaging of particle rearrangements during shear reversal shows that bulk and surface flows are comparable. Repeated reversals, or oscillations of the shear direction, lead to additional compaction, which can be described by a stretched exponential, similar to compaction induced by tapping.     

Solid-fluid transition in a granular shear flow

The rheology of a granular shear flow is studied in a quasi-2D rotating cylinder. Measurements are carried out near the midpoint along the length of the surface flowing layer where the flow is steady and nonaccelerating. Streakline photography and image analysis are used to obtain particle velocities and positions. Different particle sizes and rotational speeds are considered. We find a sharp transition in the apparent viscosity (eta) variation with rms velocity (u). Below the transition depth we find that the rms velocity decreases with depth and eta proportional to u(-1.5) for all the different cases studied. The material approaches an amorphous solidlike state deep in the layer. The velocity distribution is Maxwellian above the transition point and a Poisson velocity distribution is obtained deep in the layer. The results indicate a sharp transition from a fluid to a fluid + solid state with decreasing rms velocity.     

Core precession and global modes in granular bulk flow

We report a novel transition to core precession for granular flows in a split-bottomed shear cell. This transition is related to a qualitative change in the 3D flow structure: For shallow layers of granular material, the shear zones emanating from the split reach the free surface, while for deep layers the shear zones meet below the surface, causing precession. The surface velocities reflect this transition by a change of symmetry. As a function of layer depth, we find that three qualitatively different smooth and robust granular flows can be created in this simple shearing geometry.     

Universal behavior of entrainment due to coherent structures in turbulent shear flow

A solution is suggested for a persistent mystery in the physics of turbulent flows: cumulus clouds rise to towering heights, practically without entraining the ambient medium, while apparently similar turbulent jets quickly lose their identity through entrainment and mixing. Dynamical system computations on a model vortical flow show that entrainment due to coherent structures depends sensitively on relative speeds of fluid parcels. Local heating, for example, can alter drastically the sizes of Kolmogorov-Arnol'd-Moser tori and chaotic mixing regions. The entrainment rate and, hence, the lifetime of a turbulent shear flow show a universal, nonmonotone dependence on the heating.     

Universal slow dynamics in granular solids

Experimental properties of a new form of creep dynamics are reported, as manifest in a variety of sandstones, limestone, and concrete. The creep is a recovery behavior, following the sharp drop in elastic modulus induced either by nonlinear acoustic straining or rapid temperature change. The extent of modulus recovery is universally proportional to the logarithm of the time after source discontinuation in all samples studied, over a scaling regime covering at least 10(3) s. Comparison of acoustically and thermally induced creep suggests a single origin based on internal strain, which breaks the symmetry of the inducing source.     

Orientational correlation and velocity distributions in uniform shear flow of a dilute granular gas

Using particle simulations of the uniform shear flow of a rough dilute granular gas, we show that the translational and rotational velocities are strongly correlated in direction, but there is no orientational correlation-induced singularity at perfectly smooth (beta=-1) and rough (beta=1) limits for elastic collisions (e=1); both the translational and rotational velocity distribution functions remain close to a Gaussian for these two limiting cases. Away from these two limits, the orientational as well as spatial velocity correlations are responsible for the emergence of non-Gaussian high-velocity tails. The tails of both distribution functions follow stretched exponentials, with the exponents depending on normal (e) and tangential (beta) restitution coefficients.     

Probability analysis of contact forces in quasi-solid-liquid phase transition of granular shear flow

The quasi-solid-liquid phase transition exists widely in different fields,and attracts more attention due to its instinctive mechanism.The structure of force chains is an important factor to describe the phase transition properties.In this study,the discrete element model(DEM) is adopted to simulate a simple granular shear flow with period boundary condition on micro scale.The quasi-solid-liquid phase transition is obtained under various volume fractions and shear rates.Based on the DEM results,the probability distribution functions of the inter-particle contact force are obtained in different shear flow phases.The normal,tangential and total contact forces have the same distributions.The distribution can be fitted as the exponential function for the liquid-like phase,and as the Weibull function for the solid-like phase.To describe the progressive evolution of the force distribution in phase transition,we use the Weibull function and Corwin-Ngan function,respectively.Both of them can determine the probability distributions in different phases and the Weibull function shows more reasonable results.Finally,the force distributions are discussed to explain the characteristics of the force chain in the phase transition of granular shear flow.The distribution of the contact force is an indicator to determine the flow phase of granular materials.With the discussions on the statistical properties of the force chain,the phase transition of granular matter can be well understood.     

Kinetic theory of granular shear flow: Constitutive relations for the hard-disk model

A kinetic theory for the constitutive Theological relations of rapid granular shear flow of hard circular disks, characterized by a coefficient of restitutione and a surface roughness coefficient, is formulated. From a set of general constitutive equations for single-particle dynamical variables, the approximate expressions for the limit of small and large dimensionless dissipative parameterR _t are obtained. HereR _t is defined as the ratio /, where is the fluctuation of translational velocity from the mean flow velocity, is the diameter of a disk, and is the shear rate. At smallR _t the theoretical predictions can be compared with exact computer simulation results of granular dynamics that are also reported. The agreement between theory and simulation is better than expected; the present theory is accurate up to high packing density in this region ofR _t .     

Interrupted shear of granular media

The response of a granular material during a stop-and-go shear experiment is investigated using an annular shear cell and silicagel powders of different particle sizes. The experimental results are examined on the basis of the Dieterich-Rice-Ruina model for solid friction. In addition to making this analogy with solid friction, we describe a new instability that is observed when restarting shear, where the powder bed is found to slip and compact for short hold times but only dilates for long hold times. The minimum hold time to restore a non-slip behaviour has been investigated for different size particles and normal loadings. The observed dependencies show analogies between this behaviour and the sliding rearrangements seen above the stick-slip threshold.     

Arch generated shear bands in granular systems

We propose an arch based model, on cubic and square lattices, to simulate the internal mobility of grains, in a dense granular system under shear. In this model, the role of the arches in granular transport presents a non-linear dependence on the local values of the stress components that can be modeled geometrically. This non-linearity is very important since a linear dependence on the stress will make the models behave similarly to viscous fluids, which will not reproduce highly interesting properties of the sheared systems such as shear bands. In particular, we study a modified Couette flow and find the appearance of shear bands in accordance with the literature.     

Universal response of optimal granular damping devices

Granular damping devices constitute an emerging technology for the attenuation of vibrations based on the dissipative nature of particle collisions. We show that the performance of such devices is independent of the material properties of the particles for working conditions where damping is optimal. Even the suppression of a dissipation mode (collisional or frictional) is unable to alter the response. We explain this phenomenon in terms of the inelastic collapse of granular materials. These findings provide a crucial standpoint for the design of such devices in order to achieve the desired low maintenance feature that makes particle dampers particularly suitable to harsh environments.     

Rotating bearings in regular and irregular granular shear packings

For 2D regular dense packings of solid mono-size non-sliding disks there is a mechanism for bearing formation under shear that can be explained theoretically. There is, however, no easy way to extend this model to include random dense packings which would better describe natural packings. A numerical model that simulates shear deformation for both near-regular and irregular packings is used to demonstrate that rotating bearings appear roughly with the same density in random and regular packings. The main difference appears in the size distribution of the rotating clusters near the jamming threshold. The size distribution is well described by a scaling form with a large-size cut-off that seems to grow without bounds for regular packings at the jamming threshold, while it remains finite for irregular packings. At packing densities above the jamming transition there can be no shear, unless the disks are allowed to break. Breaking of disks induces a large number of small local bearings. Clusters of rotating particles may contribute to e.g. pre-rupture yielding in landslides, snow avalanches and to the formation of aseismic gaps in tectonic fault zones.     

Intermittency of energy in rapid granular shear flows

Hard-disk simulations are used for two-dimensional rapid granular shear flows of circular disks between two rotating cylinders. The intermittency effects associated with the rate of the energy dissipation of collisions are studied. The statistics of intermittent signals of energy dissipation reveals that a power law governs the dynamics of rapid shear granular flows. A dynamical system approach based on the Gledzer-Ohkitani-Yamada shell model of turbulence is employed to reproduce signals for energy dissipation that are statistically consistent with those from simulations. The results suggest that rapid granular flows can be analyzed by appropriate turbulent models.     

Microscopic theory of intrinsic shear and bulk viscosities

A microscopic theory of intrinsic shear and bulk viscosities of solutions is given for a model of particles that interact with hard-sphere cores and weak longrange attraction. The approximation considered (the velocity chaos assumption of the Enskog theory) can be expected to yield quantitatively useful values for viscosities of the model solute-solvent system when the solute particles are not much larger than the solvent particles. Under solute-solvent mixing conditions of constant pressure and temperature we find that the intrinsic viscosities of a hard-sphere solute in a hard-sphere solvent can be positive or negative, depending upon size and mass ratios; for solute and solvent particles whose mass ratio equals their volume ratio, the intrinsic shear and bulk viscosities are always positive for solute particles larger than solvent particles: in the opposite case, the intrinsic shear viscosity is always negative while the intrinsic bulk viscosity is for the most part negative, becoming positive again when the solute particle is sufficiently small. For solute particles smaller than solvent particles, this result is sensitive to change in mass ratio. The addition of solvent-solvent attraction is found to lower the intrinsic viscosities substantially; the addition of solute-solvent attraction raises it. Detailed quantitative analysis of these effects is given.     

Stress fluctuations in monodisperse and bidisperse rapid granular shear flows

Local stress fluctuations are measured in annular rapid shear flows of granular medium made of steel spheres with 2 and 3 mm in diameter. Both monodisperse packing and bidisperse packing are investigated to reveal the influence of size diversity on intermittent features of granular materials. Experiments are conducted in an annulus that can contain up to 15 kg of the spherical steel balls. Shearing of granular medium takes place via the rotation of the upper plate which compresses the material loaded inside the annulus. Fluctuations of compressive force are locally measured at the bottom of the annulus based on piezoelectric phenomenon. Rapid shear flow experiments are pursued at different compressive forces and shear rates and the sensitivity of fluctuations is then investigated by different means through monodisperse and bidisperse packings.     

Experimental measures of affine and nonaffine deformation in granular shear

Through 2D granular Couette flow experiments, we probe failure and deformation of disordered solids under shear. Shear produces a mean azimuthal flow, smooth affine deformations, and irreversible so-called nonaffine particle displacements. We find that these processes are all of comparable magnitude and depend on the local shear rate. We compute the parameter of Falk and Langer characterizing nonaffine motion, Dmin2, and find that it is reasonably well described in terms of collections of single particles making locally nearly isotropic random steps, delta ri. Distributions for single particle nonaffine displacements, delta ri, satisfy P1(delta ri) proportional, variantexp[-|delta ri/Delta r|alpha] (alpha < or approximately 2).     

类固态颗粒物质的剪切弹性行为测量

利用能以极慢变形率直接剪切颗粒固体的实验装置,测量了(玻璃珠)样品对大幅度循环剪切的力-位移曲线,以及一个循环周期后的塑性位移残留.发现随着循环频率的降低,样品会从有限塑性残留的弹塑行为转变到几乎没有塑性的纯弹性行为,同时伴随有率相关性.该转变在剪切力幅度高达样品破坏值的90%时依然存在,但需要极小的变形率(10~(-5)Hz)或惯性数(10~(-8)).这意味着无论是高频小幅度的声波扰动,还是极低频大幅度的直接剪切,静态颗粒固体都可做出纯弹性的力学响应.在足够慢的状态变化范围里,它仍是属于经典弹性理论范畴的一类材料.这个弹性区域一直未被报道和关注,可能是观测它时需要样品的变形率远比通常此类研究中所采用的慢变形还要小许多(大约两个数量级)的缘故.理论上本文测量结果支持描述颗粒固体宏观动力学的基本方程组,不能只有弹塑和率无关行为,它们必须在极慢变形极限下退化为经典弹性理论,并且在这个转变过程中表现出率相关特性.