Fluid to solid transition in granular media and the role of fluctuations: applications to forces on structures

PhD project

Modelling of an unstable granular bank flow over a wall (click on the image to run the animation)
Modelling of an unstable granular bank flow over a wall (click on the image to run the animation)

Granular materials are ubiquitous in a large variety of natural as well as industrial systems. One of their most fascinating properties is their ability to either sustain elastic stresses as solids, or to flow as fluids, depending on the applied solicitation. The present project will tackle the fundamental mechanisms arising when both a stagnant granular zone (quasi-static) and a dense-liquid granular zone (inertial regime) coexist with mainly the help of well-documented and well-calibrated DEM and FEMLIP numerical simulations.

Two model granular systems will be addressed: a lid-driven cavity and an inclined free-surface granular flow with a dead zone trapped by a wall.

 

The expected breakthrough concerns the identification of the role of fluctuations under well-controlled boundary conditions. This project is of utmost importance for a better understanding of granular flows around structures and forces exerted on those structures.

CONTACTS

  • PI: Thierry Faug
  • Co-PI: Frédéric Dufour
  • PhD: François Kneib

PARTNERS

  • INRAE Grenoble
  • 3SR

FUNDING

  • Tec21
  • INRAE Grenoble

Outcomes

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

  • Kneib F, Faug T, Dufour F, Naaim M. (2019). Mean force and fluctuations on a wall immersed in a sheared granular flow. Physical Review E, 99, 052901. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.99.052901

  • Kneib F, Faug T, Nicolet G, Eckert N, Dufour F, Naaim M. (2017). Force fluctuations on a wall in interaction with a granular lid-driven cavity flow, Physical Review E, 96, 042906. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.96.042906

  • Kneib F, Faug T, Dufour F, Naaim M. (2016). Numerical investigations of the force experienced by a wall subject to lid-driven granular flow : regimes and scaling of the mean force, Computational Particle Mechanics, 3 (3), 293-302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40571-015-0060-9

ORAL PAPERS

  • Kneib F, Faug T, Dufour F, Naaim M. 2015.Temporal force fluctuations experienced by walls subject to granular flows. Fourth Conference on Particle-Based Methods (PARTICLES 2015), 28-30 September 2015, Barcelona, Spain.

  • Kneib F, Faug T, Dufour F, Naaim M. 2015. Forces experienced by the walls of a granular lid-driven cavity. Congrès Français de Mécanique, August 24 – 28, 2015, Lyon, France. Kneib F., Faug T., Dufour F., Naaim M. (2014).

  • Force experienced by the walls of a granular lid-driven cavity. Proceedings of the 23rd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, 9-12 December 2014, Byron Bay, Australia, S.T. Smith (Ed.), vol. 2, 775-780 (with proceedings).

POSTERS

  • Kneib F., Faug T., Dufour F., Naaim M. (2017). Force fluctuations experienced by a boundary wall subjected to a granular flow in two distinct systems. EPJ Web of Conferences 140, 03029. Powders and Grains 2017 – 8th International Conference on Micromechanics on Granular Media, 3-7 July 2017, Montpellier, France (with proceedings)

ADDITIONAL FUNDING

  • H2020 Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship (2014-2016): Granular avalanche impact on civil engineering structures (GRAINPACT – IOF FP7 PEOPLE)