Dynamic simulations of the pressure-driven flow in a channel of a non-Brownian suspension at zero Reynolds number were conducted using Stokesian Dynamics. The simulations are for a monolayer of identical particles as a function of the dimensionless channel width and the bulk particle concentration. Starting from a homogeneous dispersion, the particles gradually migrate towards the centre of the channel, resulting in an homogeneous concentration profile and a blunting of the particle velocity profile. The time for achieving steady state scales as ( H /~)~a / ( u ) ,where H is the channel width, a the radii of the particles, and ( u ) the average suspension velocity in the channel. The concentration and velocity profiles determined from the simulations are in qualitative agreement with experiment.A model for suspension flow has been proposed in which macroscopic mass, momentum and energy balances are constructed and solved simultaneously. It is shown that the requirement that the suspension pressure be constant in directions perpendicular to the mean motion leads to particle migration and concentration variations in inhomogeneous flow. The concept of the suspension 'temperature ' -a measure of the particle velocity fluctuations -is introduced in order to provide a nonlocal description of suspension behaviour. The results of this model for channel flow are in good agreement with the simulations.

Measurements of the relation between mass hold-up and flow rate have been made for glass beads in fully developed flow down an inclined chute, over the whole range of inclinations for which such flows are possible. Velocity profiles in the flowing material have also been measured. For a given inclination it is found that two different flow regimes may exist for each value of the flow rate in a certain interval. One is an ‘energetic’ flow, and is produced when the particles are dropped into the chute from a height, while the other is relatively quiescent and occurs when entry to the chute is regulated by a gate. At some values of the inclination jumps in the flow pattern occur between these branches, and it is even possible for both branches to coexist in the same chute, separated by a shock. A theoretical treatment of chute flow has been based on a rheological model of the material which takes into account both collisional and fractional mechanisms for generating stress. Its predictions include most aspects of the observed behaviour, but quantitative comparison of theory and experiment is difficult because of the uncertain values of some parameters appearing in the theory.

This paper presents a linear stability analysis of plane Couette flow of a granular material using a kinetic-theory-based model for the rheology of the medium. The stability analysis, restricted to two-dimensional disturbances, is carried out for three illustrative sets of grain and wall properties which correspond to the walls being perfectly adiabatic, and sources and sinks of fluctuational energy. When the walls are not adiabatic and the Couette gap H is sufficiently large, the base state of steady fully developed flow consists of a slowly deforming ‘plug’ layer where the bulk density is close to that of maximum packing and a rapidly shearing layer where the bulk density is considerably lower. The plug is adjacent to the wall when the latter acts as a sink of energy and is centred at the symmetry axis when it acts as a source of energy. For each set of properties, stability is determined for a range of H and the mean solids fraction [barvee ]. For a given value of [barvee ], the flow is stable if H is sufficiently small; as H increases it is susceptible to instabilities in the form of cross-stream layering waves with no variation in the flow direction, and stationary and travelling waves with variation in the flow and gradient directions. The layering instability prevails over a substantial range of H and [barvee ] for all sets of wall properties. However, it grows far slower than the strong stationary and travelling wave instabilities which become active at larger H. When the walls act as energy sinks, the strong travelling wave instability is absent altogether, and instead there are relatively slow growing long-wave instabilities. For the case of adiabatic walls there is another stationary instability for dilute flows when the grain collisions are quasi-elastic; these modes become stable when grain collisions are perfectly elastic or very inelastic. Instability of all modes is driven by the inelasticity of grain collisions.

The flow of granular materials such as sand, snow, coal, and catalyst particles is a common occurrence in natural and industrial settings. They are important since a large fraction of the materials handled and processed in the chemical, metallurgical, pharmaceutical, and food-processing industries are granular in nature. The mechanics of these materials' flows is not well understood. This book describes the theories for granular flow based mainly on continuum models, although alternative discrete models are also discussed briefly. The level is appropriate for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students. The goal is to inform the reader about observed phenomena and some available models and their shortcomings and to visit some issues that remain unresolved. There is a selection of problems at the end of the chapters to encourage exploration, and extensive references are given.