Analysis of the Fully Developed Chute Flow of Granular Materials

Existing constitutive relations and governing equations have been used to solve for fully developed chute flows of granular materials. In particular, the results of Lun et al. (1984) have been employed and the boundary value problem has been formulated with two parameters (the coefficient of restitution between particles, and the chute inclination), and three boundary values at the chute base wall, namely the values of solid fraction, granular temperature, and mean velocity at the wall. The boundary value problem has been numerically solved by the “shooting method.” The results show the significant role played by granular conduction in determining the profiles of granular temperature, solid fraction, and mean velocity in chute flows. These analytical results are also compared with experimental measurements of velocity fluctuation, solid fraction, and mean velocity made by Ahn et al. (1989), and with the computer simulations by Campbell and Brennen (1985b).