Lydie Staron

Preavalanche instabilities in a granular pile.

We investigate numerically the transition between static equilibrium and dynamic surface flow of a 2D cohesionless granular system driven by a continuous gravity loading. This transition is characterized by intermittent local dynamic rearrangements and can be described by an order parameter defined as the density of critical contacts, i.e., contacts where the friction is fully mobilized. Analysis of the spatial correlations of critical contacts shows the occurrence of fluidized clusters which exhibit a power-law divergence in size at the approach of the stability limit. The results are compatible with recent models that describe the granular system during the static/dynamic transition as a multiphase system.

Friction versus texture at the approach of a granular avalanche

We perform an analysis of the granular texture of a granular bed close to stability limit. Our analysis is based on a unique criterion of friction mobilization in a simulated two-dimensional packing. In this way, we recover the bimodal character of granular texture and the coexistence of weak and strong phases in the sense of distinct contacts populations. Moreover, we show the existence of a well-defined subset of contacts within the weak contact network. These contacts are characterized by their important friction and form a highly coherent population in terms of fabric. They play an antagonistic role with respect to force chains. Thus, we are able to discriminate between incoherent contacts and coherent contacts in the weak phase and to specify the role that the latter plays in the destabilization process.

Multi-scale analysis of the stress state in a granular slope in transition to failure.

Abstract.By means of contact dynamics simulations, we analyze the stress state in a granular bed slowly tilted toward its angle of repose. An increasingly large number of grains are overloaded in the sense that they are found to carry a stress ratio above the Coulomb yield threshold of the whole packing. Using this property, we introduce a coarse-graining length scale at which all stress ratios are below the packing yield threshold. We show that this length increases with the slope angle and jumps to a length comparable to the depth of the granular bed at an angle below the angle of repose. This transition coincides with the onset of dilation in the packing. We map this transition into a percolation transition of the overloaded grains, and discuss it in terms of long-range correlations and granular slope metastability. nn

Memory of the Unjamming Transition during Cyclic Tiltings of a Granular Pile

Discrete numerical simulations are performed to study the evolution of the microstructure and the response of a granular packing during successive loading-unloading cycles, consisting of quasistatic rotations in the gravity field between opposite inclination angles. We show that internal variables--e.g., stress and fabric of the pile--exhibit hysteresis during these cycles due to the exploration of different metastable configurations. Interestingly, the hysteretic behavior of the pile strongly depends on the maximal inclination of the cycles, giving evidence of the irreversible modifications of the pile state occurring close to the unjamming transition. More specifically, we show that for cycles with maximal inclination larger than the repose angle, the weak-contact network carries the memory of the unjamming transition. These results demonstrate the relevance of a two-phase description--strong- and weak-contact networks--for a granular system, as soon as it has approached the unjamming transition.

Granular micro-structure and avalanche precursors

We perform 2D numerical simulations to investigate the evolution of the internal state of a granular slope driven towards the stability limit. We first identify precursors of the avalanche and relate them to the intermittent mobilization of friction forces between the grains. Analysing the details of the micro-structure, namely the distribution of friction forces and the stress state at different scales, we give evidence of the existence of a preavalanche interval in which the micro-structure undergoes a sharp modification. Higher probability of precursors and the modification of the micro-structure occur in coincidence. The latter is discussed in terms of slope metastability and of the possible emergence of long-range correlations at the approach of the stability limit.

Stress partition and microstructure in size-segregating granular flows.

When a granular mixture involving grains of different sizes is shaken, sheared, mixed, or left to flow, grains tend to separate by sizes in a process known as size segregation. In this study, we explore the size segregation mechanism in granular chute flows in terms of the pressure distribution and granular microstructure. Therefore, two-dimensional discrete numerical simulations of bidisperse granular chute flows are systematically analyzed. Based on the theoretical models of J. M. N. T. Gray and A. R. Thornton [Proc. R. Soc. A 461, 1447] and K. M. Hill and D. S. Tan [J. Fluid Mech. 756, 54 (2014)], we explore the stress partition in the phases of small and large grains, discriminating between contact stresses and kinetic stresses. Our results support both gravity-induced and shear-gradient-induced segregation mechanisms. However, we show that the contact stress partition is extremely sensitive to the definition of the partial stress tensors and, more specifically, to the way mixed contacts (i.e., involving a small grain and a large grain) are handled, making conclusions on gravity-induced segregation uncertain. By contrast, the computation of the partial kinetic stress tensors is robust. The kinetic pressure partition exhibits a deviation from continuum mixture theory of a significantly higher amplitude than the contact pressure and displays a clear dependence on the flow dynamics. Finally, using a simple approximation for the contact partial stress tensors, we investigate how the contact stress partition relates to the flow microstructure and suggest that the latter may provide an interesting proxy for studying gravity-induced segregation.

Friction and the oscillatory motion of granular flows

This contribution reports on numerical simulations of two-dimensional granular flows on erodible beds. The broad aim is to investigate whether simple flows of model granular matter exhibit spontaneous oscillatory motion in generic flow conditions, and in this case, whether the frictional properties of the contacts between grains may affect the existence or the characteristics of this oscillatory motion. The analysis of different series of simulations shows that the flow develops an oscillatory motion with a well-defined frequency which increases like the inverse of the velocitys square root. We show that the oscillation is essentially a surface phenomenon. The amplitude of the oscillation is higher for lower volume fractions and can thus be related to the flow velocity and grains friction properties. The study of the influence of the periodic geometry of the simulation cell shows no significant effect. These results are discussed in relation to sonic sands.