Three-dimensional simulations of a vertically vibrated granular bed including interstitial air

Non-Newtonian hydrodynamics for a dilute granular suspension under uniform shear flow

We study in this work a steady shearing laminar flow with null heat flux (usually called "uniform shear flow") in a gas-solid suspension at low density. The solid particles are modeled as a gas of smooth hard spheres with inelastic collisions while the influence of the surrounding interstitial fluid on the dynamics of grains is modeled by means of a volume drag force, in the context of a rheological model for suspensions. The model is solved by means of three different but complementary routes, two of them being theoretical (Grad's moment method applied to the corresponding Boltzmann equation and an exact solution of a kinetic model adapted to granular suspensions) and the other being computational (Monte Carlo simulations of the Boltzmann equation). Unlike in previous studies on granular sheared suspensions, the collisional moment associated with the momentum transfer is determined in Grad's solution by including all the quadratic terms in the stress tensor. This theoretical enhancement allows for the detection and evaluation of the normal stress differences in the plane normal to the laminar flow. In addition, the exact solution of the kinetic model gives the explicit form of the velocity moments of the velocity distribution function. Comparison between our theoretical and numerical results shows in general a good agreement for the non-Newtonian rheological properties, the kurtosis (fourth velocity moment of the distribution function), and the velocity distribution of the kinetic model for quite strong inelasticity and not too large values of the (scaled) friction coefficient characterizing the viscous drag force. This shows the accuracy of our analytical results that allows us to describe in detail the flow dynamics of the granular sheared suspension.

Reverse buoyancy in a vibrated granular bed: Computer simulations

We have performed molecular dynamics simulations of an intruder in a vibrated granular bed including interstitial fluid effects to account for the phenomenon of reverse buoyancy. We show that our model is able to reproduce the overall behaviour observed by previous experimental works and is the first finite-elements simulation to show the sinking of intruders lighter than the granular bed. To further advance our comprehension of this phenomenon, we studied the motion of the intruders in a single vibration cycle with respect to the bottom of the granular column, finding a substantial qualitative difference for heavy and light intruders and we compare these results with experiments using fine-sized glass beads. We show that, though heavy intruders seem unaffected by the force due to the fluid, the effect on light intruders is remarkable.