Experimental and Computational Studies of Gravity-Driven Dense Granular Flows

The current paper focusses on the characterization of gravity-driven dry granular flows in cylindrical tubes. With a motive of using dense particulate media as heat transfer fluids (HTF), the study was primarily focused to address the characteristics of flow regimes with a packing fraction of ∼60%. Experiments were conducted to understand the effects of different flow parameters, including: tube radius, tube inclination, tube length and exit diameter. These studies were conducted on two types of spherical particles — glass and ceramic — with mean diameters of 150 μm and 300 μm respectively. The experimental data was correlated with the semi-empirical equation based on Beverloo’s law. In addition, the same flow configuration was studied through three-dimensional computer simulations by implementing the Discrete Element Method for the Lagrangian modelling of particles. A soft-particle formulation was used with Hertz-Mindilin contact models to resolve the interaction forces between particles. The simulation results were used to examine the velocity, shear rate and packing fraction profiles to study the detailed flow dynamics. Curve-fits were developed for the mean velocity profiles which could be used in developing hydrodynamic analogies for granular flows. The current work thus identifies the basic features of gravity driven dense granular flows that could form a basis for defining their rheology.