Kinetic theory for the density plateau in the granular flow down an inclined plane

Kumaran, V (2006) Kinetic theory for the density plateau in the granular flow down an inclined plane. In: Europhysics Letters, 73 (2). pp. 232-238.

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Abstract

The striking lack of observable variation of the volume fraction with height in the center of a granular flow down an inclined plane is analysed using constitutive relations obtained from kinetic theory. It is shown that the rate of conduction in the granular energy balance equation is O(delta(2)) smaller than the rate of production of energy due to mean shear and the rate of dissipation due to inelastic collisions, where the small parameter delta = (d/(1 - e(n))H-1/2), d is the particle diameter, en is the normal coefficient of restitution and H is the thickness of the flowing layer. This implies that the volume fraction is a constant in the leading approximation in an asymptotic analysis in small delta. Numerical estimates of both the parameter delta and its pre-factor are obtained to show that the lack of observable variation of the volume fraction with height can be explained by constitutive relations obtained from kinetic theory.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Europhysics Letters
Publisher:	EDP Sciences
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to EDP Sciences.
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Chemical Engineering
Date Deposited:	08 Sep 2010 09:46
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 06:15
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/31916

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