title: Stochastic flow rule for granular materials.
abstract: There have been many attempts to derive continuum models for dense granular flow, but a general theory is still lacking. Here, we start with Mohr-Coulomb plasticity for quasi-two-dimensional granular materials to calculate (average) stresses and slip planes, but we propose a "stochastic flow rule" (SFR) to replace the principle of coaxiality in classical plasticity. The SFR takes into account two crucial features of granular materials-discreteness and randomness-via diffusing "spots" of local fluidization, which act as carriers of plasticity. We postulate that spots perform random walks biased along slip lines with a drift direction determined by the stress imbalance upon a local switch from static to dynamic friction. In the continuum limit (based on a Fokker-Planck equation for the spot concentration), this simple model is able to predict a variety of granular flow profiles in flat-bottom silos, annular Couette cells, flowing heaps, and plate-dragging experiments--with essentially no fitting parameters--although it is only expected to function where material is at incipient failure and slip lines are inadmissible. For special cases of admissible slip lines, such as plate dragging under a heavy load or flow down an inclined plane, we postulate a transition to rate-dependent Bagnold rheology, where flow occurs by sliding shear planes. With different yield criteria, the SFR provides a general framework for multiscale modeling of plasticity in amorphous materials, cycling between continuum limit-state stress calculations, mesoscale spot random walks, and microscopic particle relaxation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 01239, USA.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamrin
authors.forename: Martin Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Bazant