Constitutive relations for compressible granular materials using non-Newtonian fluid mechanics (Q1960961)

The paper discusses constitutive relations which can model the flows of granular materials with cohesion, friction, and collisions between particles. The constitutive model represents compressible viscoplastic fluids with second-order effects, in which Cauchy stress tensor depends on the velocity components and on the rate of volume distribution. An alternative model employs the maximum volume distribution to take second-order effects into account. It is shown that the simplification of the model in which compressibility and second-order effects are neglected leads to the Diez-Godoy constitutive model [\textit{M. A. Diez} and \textit{L. A. Godoy}, Int. J. Mech. Sci. 34, No.~5, 395-408 (1992; Zbl 0825.73765)] . The formulation is employed to solve the flow through an inclined channel, for which the problem reduces to a one-dimensional situation. Explicit solutions for this case are obtained and presented in some detail for different degrees of approximation. The results are compared, with excellent agreement, with theoretical values by other authors and with experimental data available in the literature. The constitutive equation in which second-order terms are written out as functions of volume distribution is the most general of the constitutive relations presented.