Nonlocal effects in sand flows on an inclined plane

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2015 May;91(5):052202. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.91.052202. Epub 2015 May 18.

Abstract

The flow of sand on a rough inclined plane is investigated experimentally. We directly show that a jammed layer of grains spontaneously forms below the avalanche. Its properties and its relation with the rheology of the flowing layer of grains are presented and discussed. In a second part, we study the dynamics of erosion and deposition solitary waves in the domain where they are transversally stable. We characterize their shapes and velocity profiles. We relate their translational velocity to the stopping height and to the mass trapped in the avalanche. Finally, we use the velocity profile to get insight into the rheology very close to the jamming limit.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Gravitation
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Rheology*