Initiation of granular surface flows in a narrow channel

Pierre Jop (1) , Yoël Forterre (1) , Olivier Pouliquen (1)

1 IUSTI - Institut universitaire des systèmes thermiques industriels

We experimentally investigate how a long granular pile confined in a narrow channel destabilizes when it is inclined above the angle of repose. A uniform flow then develops, which is localized at the free surface. It first accelerates before reaching a steady uniform regime. During this process, an apparent erosion is observed and the thickness of the flowing layer increases. We precisely study the evolution of the vertical velocity profile in this transient regime. The measurements are compared with the prediction of a visco-plastic model [P. Jop, Y. Forterre and O. Pouliquen, Nature 441, 727 (2006)]

Mots clés: granular flow; avalanche; velocity profile; channel

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

Pierre Jop, Yoël Forterre, Olivier Pouliquen. Initiation of granular surface flows in a narrow channel. Physics of Fluids, 2007, 19, pp.088102. ⟨10.1063/1.2753111⟩. ⟨hal-00163292⟩