Rheometry of dense granular collapse on inclined planes

The continuum deformation of gravity-driven dense granular materials on steep inclined planes exhibit similar flow phenomenon to natural and industrial occurrences. This kind of granular flow dynamics corresponds to unsteady flows which currently lack any theoretical formulations for its kinematic properties. The implementation of the µ(I) rheology model and the moving particle semi-implicit mesh-free method as a coupled set is used to predict quantitatively the flow properties and phenomena of the granular materials on inclined planes. During deformation of the granular materials, transition of flow regime shows that the velocity profile is maintained at the dense region but fluctuates when tending to the dilute region due to limited interaction between granular materials. The granular materials shear stress is found to attain a yield point before reducing as the shear rate increases exhibiting a transient behaviour. We also compared the velocity profile, surface profile and wave front of the flowing granular materials with physical studies on a two-dimensional configuration giving acceptable qualitative agreements.