On the dependence of the avalanche angle on the granular layer thickness

Abstract

A layer of sand of thickness h flows down a rough surface if the inclination is larger than some threshold value theta which decreases with h. A tentative microscopic model for the dependence of theta with h is proposed for rigid frictional grains, based on the following hypothesis: (i) a horizontal layer of sand has some coordination z larger than a critical value z_c where mechanical stability is lost (ii) as the tilt angle is increased, the configurations visited present a growing proportion $_s of sliding contacts. Instability with respect to flow occurs when z-z_s=z_c. This criterion leads to a prediction for theta(h) in good agreement with empirical observations.

6 pages, 2 figures

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Non-local rheology in dense granular flows -- Revisiting the concept of fluidity
• Rheological properties of dense granular flows
• Critical jamming of frictional grains in the generalized isostaticity picture
• Non-local effects reflect the jamming criticality in granular flows of frictionless particles
• Stability of a granular layer on an inclined "fakir plane"
• Local Coulomb versus Global Failure Criterion for Granular Packings