Gravity flow of cohesionless granular materials in chutes and channels

Abstract

A constitutive equation appropriate for flow of cohesionless granular materials at high deformation rates and low stress levels is proposed. It consists of an extension and a reinterpretation of the theory of Goodman & Cowin (1972), and accounts for the non-Newtonian nature of the flow as evidenced by Bagnold's (1954) experiments. The theory is applied to analyses of gravity flows in inclined chutes and vertical channels. Experiments were set up in an attempt to generate two-dimensional shear flows corresponding to these analyses. Velocity profiles measured by a technique which makes use of fibre optic probes agree qualitatively with the theoretical predictions, but direct comparison is inappropriate because of unavoidable side-wall friction effects in the experiments. The existing measure of agreement suggests that the most prominent effects have been included in the proposed constitutive relations. Tests in the inclined chute revealed the possible existence of surge waves and granular jumps analogous to hydraulic jumps.