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Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1428 - 1431 (2000)

Particle Dynamics in Sheared Granular Matter

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W. Losert1, L. Bocquet2,3, T. C. Lubensky2, and J. P. Gollub1,2
1Physics Department, Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania 19041
2Physics Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
3Laboratoire de Physique de l'E.N.S. de Lyon, U.M.R. C.N.R.S. 5672, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex, France

Received 21 April 2000

The particle dynamics and shear forces of granular matter in a Couette geometry are determined experimentally. The normalized tangential velocity V(y) declines strongly with distance y from the moving wall, independent of the shear rate and of the shear dynamics. Local rms velocity fluctuations δV(y) scale with the local velocity gradient to the power 0.4±0.05. These results agree with a locally Newtonian, continuum model, where the granular medium is assumed to behave as a liquid with a local temperature [δV(y)]2 and density dependent viscosity.


©2000 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.1428
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.1428
PACS: 45.70.Mg, 47.50.+d, 83.70.Fn

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