No Arabic abstract
Avalanche experiments on an erodible substrate are treated in the framework of ``partial fluidization model of dense granular flows. The model identifies a family of propagating soliton-like avalanches with shape and velocity controlled by the inclination angle and the depth of substrate. At high inclination angles the solitons display a transverse instability, followed by coarsening and fingering similar to recent experimental observation. A primary cause for the transverse instability is directly related to the dependence of soliton velocity on the granular mass trapped in the avalanche.
Combining X-ray tomography with simultaneous shear force measurement, we investigate shear-induced granular avalanches using spherical particles with different surface roughness. We find that systems consisting of particles with large surface roughness display quasi-periodic avalanches interrupted by crackling-like small ones. In contrast, systems consisting of particles with small roughness display no detectable avalanches. The stress drop of quasi-periodic avalanche shows a linear relation with the correlation length of particle non-affine displacement, suggesting that roughness enhances inter-particle locking and hence particle-level dynamic correlation length. However, the nonaffine displacement is two orders of magnitude smaller than particle size, indicating that stress is mainly released on the length scale of roughness. The correlation length of non-affine displacements abruptly increases when a quasi-periodic avalanche occurs, suggesting that quasi-periodic avalanches can be interpreted as a spinodal nucleation event in a first-order phase transition.
A submerged finite cylinder moving under its own weight along a soft incline lifts off and slides at a steady velocity while also spinning. Here, we experimentally quantify the steady spinning of the cylinder and show theoretically that it is due to a combination of an elastohydrodynamic torque generated by flow in the variable gap, and the viscous friction on the edges of the finite-length cylinder. The relative influence of the latter depends on the aspect ratio of the cylinder as well as the deformability of the substrate, which we express in term of a single scaled compliance parameter. By varying this compliance parameter, we show that our experimental results are consistent with a transition from an edge-effect dominated regime for short cylinders to a gap-dominated elastohydrodynamic regime when the cylinder is very long.
We report a new lift force model for intruders in dense, granular shear flows. Our derivation is based on the thermal buoyancy model of Trujillo & Hermann[L. Trujillo and H. J. Herrmann, Physica A 330, 519 (2003).], but takes into account both granular temperature and pressure differences in the derivation of the net buoyancy force acting on the intruder. In a second step the model is extended to take into account also density differences between the intruder and the bed particles. The model predicts very well the rising and sinking of intruders, the lift force acting on intruders as determined by discrete element model (DEM) simulations and the neutral-buoyancy limit of intruders in shear flows. Phenomenologically, we observe a cooling upon the introduction of an intruder into the system. This cooling effect increases with intruder size and explains the sinking of large intruders. On the other hand, the introduction of small to mid-sized intruders, i.e. up to 4 times the bed particle size, leads to a reduction in the granular pressure compared to the hydrostatic pressure, which in turn causes the rising of small to mid-sized intruders.
We obtain a fundamental instability of the magnetization-switching fronts in super-paramagnetic and ferromagnetic materials such as crystals of nanomagnets, ferromagnetic nanowires, and systems of quantum dots with large spin. We develop the instability theory for both linear and nonlinear stages. By using numerical simulations we investigate the instability properties focusing on spin avalanches in crystals of nanomagnets. The instability distorts spontaneously the fronts and leads to a complex multidimensional front dynamics. We show that the instability has a universal physical nature, with a deep relationship to a wide variety of physical systems, such as the Darrieus-Landau instability of deflagration fronts in combustion, inertial confinement fusion and thermonuclear su- pernovae, and the instability of doping fronts in organic semiconductors.
Granular materials react to shear stresses differently than do ordinary fluids. Rather than deforming uniformly, materials such as dry sand or cohesionless powders develop shear bands: narrow zones containing large relative particle motion leaving adjacent regions essentially rigid[1,2,3,4,5]. Since shear bands mark areas of flow, material failure and energy dissipation, they play a crucial role for many industrial, civil engineering and geophysical processes[6]. They also appear in related contexts, such as in lubricating fluids confined to ultra-thin molecular layers[7]. Detailed information on motion within a shear band in a three-dimensional geometry, including the degree of particle rotation and inter-particle slip, is lacking. Similarly, only little is known about how properties of the individual grains - their microstructure - affect movement in densely packed material[5]. Combining magnetic resonance imaging, x-ray tomography, and high-speed video particle tracking, we obtain the local steady-state particle velocity, rotation and packing density for shear flow in a three-dimensional Couette geometry. We find that key characteristics of the granular microstructure determine the shape of the velocity profile.