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The collapse of a granular column onto an erodible bed: dynamics and morphology scaling

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Abstract

The collapse of a granular column onto an erodible bed is studied experimentally and numerically, and underlying scaling laws on deposition morphology and erosion geometry are mainly considered. The differences in material properties between the column and the erodible bed give rise to the change in flow behaviors, in which the particle density ratio between the column and the erodible bed plays a crucial role. The flow duration apparently increases with initial aspect ratio \(a\), but its normalized value tends to a constant at large \(a\) regardless of particle density ratio. Furthermore, several univariable scaling laws are put forward to quantitatively characterize final deposition morphology and erosion geometry. By rescaling these univariable functions, the generalized scaling laws containing two relevant variables are further proposed, which have been verified to be applicable for a wider range of situations where the degree of erosion dominates the propagation of collapsing flow.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (Grants No. 11872028, No. 11572144), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grants No. lzujbky-2019-it18, No. lzujbky- 2020-kb03), and 111 Project (No. B14044).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Yesheng Wu, Dengming Wang & Pingshan Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Mechanics On Disaster and Environment in Western China, Ministry of Education of China, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Yesheng Wu, Dengming Wang & Pingshan Li

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  1. Yesheng Wu
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  2. Dengming Wang
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Correspondence to Dengming Wang.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection: Flow regimes and phase transitions in granular matter: multiscale modeling from micromechanics to continuum.

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Wu, Y., Wang, D. & Li, P. The collapse of a granular column onto an erodible bed: dynamics and morphology scaling. Granular Matter 23, 31 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-021-01100-x

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