Shock waves in dense granular flows down a chute

Large scale, three dimensional computer simulations of monosized, viscoelastic, spherical glass particles flowing in an inclined duct were performed using a phenomenological model based on the modified Kelvin–Maxwell model. The particle flow rate in the model duct was regulated using a stationary wedge located in the middle of the duct. At low flow rates of glass particles, a continuous flow was observed similar to that excited by steadily and rapidly adding glass particles to the top of a heap. However, at high flow rates, a totally different situation arises where a flow with a different nature was established in the duct. The situation was found to be analogous to the case of a supersonic gas flow in a duct, where a curved-bow shock was observed to have formed on the upper edges of the duct adjacent to the wedge. In addition, in supersonic granular flows the viscous and conductance effects spread the shock changes over a finite shock layer.