Study of the collapse of granular columns using two-dimensional discrete-grain simulation

By L. Staron, E. John Hinch. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2005

236 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Numerical simulations of the collapse and spreading of granular columns onto a horizontal plane using the Contact Dynamics method are presented. The results are in agreement with previous experimental work. The final shape of the deposit appears to depend only on the initial aspect ratio a of the column. The normalized runout distance has a power-law dependence on the aspect ratio a, a dependence incompatible with a simple friction model. The dynamics of the collapse is shown to be mostly controlled by a free fall of the column. Energy dissipation at the base of the column can be described simply by a coefficient of restitution. Hence the energy available for the sideways flow is proportional to the initial potential energy $E_0$. The dissipation process within the sideways flow is approximated well by basal friction, unlike the behaviour of the runout distance. The proportion of mass ejected sideways is shown to play a determining role in the spreading process: as a increases, the same fraction of initial potential energy $E_0$ drives an increasing proportion of the initial mass against friction. This gives a possible explanation for the power-law dependence of the runout distance on a. We propose a new scaling for the runout distance that matches the data well, is compatible with a friction model, and provides a qualitative explanation of the column collapse.

Subfields: Computational Mechanics, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Mechanical Engineering

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0222d96889deea5b4c942dafea9cdea2e612ba43

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Computational Mechanics

In Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

In Mechanical Engineering

Citations in the corpus

Granular collapse in two dimensions (2005, methodology): “A rather different, but complementary, approach is taken by Staron & Hinch (2005) who evolve slumps via particle mechanics, assuming frictional rigid collisions between grains.”
A new SPH-based approach to simulation of granular flows using viscous damping and stress regularisation (2017, methodology): “…modelling, the discrete element methods (DEMs) have been extensively used to investigate the mechanisms of granular flows (Cleary and Sawley 2002; Staron and Hinch 2005, 2007; Zenit 2005; Lacaze et al. 2008; Krabbenhoft et al. 2012; Girolami et al. 2012; Guo and Curtis 2014; Utili et al. 2015;…”
Granular and particle-laden flows: from laboratory experiments to field observations (2017, background): “%) even with high grain/grain friction (Staron and Hinch 2005, 2007).”
The granular column collapse as a continuum: validity of a two-dimensional Navier–Stokes model with a μ(I)-rheology (2011, methodology): “…of the column collapse were performed using discrete methods, namely solving individual grain trajectories taking into account interactions with neighbours while neglecting the influence of the surrounding air and of confining walls (Zenit 2005; Staron & Hinch 2005, 2007; Lacaze et al. 2008).”
Numerical modeling of 2‐D granular step collapse on erodible and nonerodible surface (2009, methodology): “[11] These relationships suggest that the available energy to sustain spreading should depend on a. Nevertheless, as stated by Staron and Hinch [2005] , the origin of the exponent is under discussion and no model offers a comprehen-F03020 CROSTA ET AL.: NUMERICAL MODELING OF GRANULAR STEP COLLAPSE”