DEM simulation of dense granular flows in a vane shear cell: Kinematics and rheological laws

The rheology of dense granular flows is investigated through discrete element method (DEM)
simulation of a vane shear cell. From the simulation, profiles of shear stress, shear rate, and
velocity are obtained, which demonstrates that the flow features in the vane shear cell are
equivalent to those in the classic annular Couette cell. A novel correlation for the shear
viscosity is formulated and leads to a new expression for μKT in the kinetic theory analysis.
The μKT formulation is able to qualitatively capture the μ-I relation in the shear cell. A
correlation length is added in the energy dissipation term to account for the effects of the
particle motion correlation. A simplified correlation length model is derived based on DEM
results and is compared with the literature. The modified granular kinetic energy equation
is able to correctly predict the granular temperature profiles in the shear cell.