Failure of a granular step

Details Failure of a granular step Failure of a granular step

2005-03-09

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0503231v1

Phys. Rev. E 71, 051302 (2005) (6 pages)

Physics

Condensed Matter

Soft Condensed Matter

4 figures

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevE.71.051302

We investigate the gravity driven rapid failure of a granular step composed of non-cohesive steel beads. The step is initially held together with electromagnets, and released when the current is switched off. We visualize the surface and the motion of the grains during the entire relaxation. The initial failure occurs at the surface and the subsequent flow is also confined to the surface as the step relaxes to its final state. The final shape of the surface is almost linear, depends on the initial angle of the step, and is not sensitive to the size of the grains. The average final slope of the pile is only slightly lower than the angle of repose of a pile formed by slowly pouring particles on to a flat surface. The evolution of the step is compared with a proposed convective-diffusion model of our system. The qualitative features of the relaxation are captured by the model after a flow-dependent dissipation parameter is introduced.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Failure of a granular step does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Failure of a granular step, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Failure of a granular step will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-684997