Rheology and microstructure of unsaturated granular materials: Experiments and simulations

TL;DR

This paper investigates how capillary cohesion influences the flow and yield behavior of unsaturated granular materials through combined experimental and simulation approaches.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the rheology and microstructure of unsaturated granular materials using experiments and discrete element simulations.

Findings

Capillary cohesion affects bulk flow behavior.

Microstructure analysis reveals particle clustering due to cohesion.

Flow rheology depends on saturation levels.

Abstract

When dealing with unsaturated wet granular materials, a fundamental question is: what is the effect of capillary cohesion on the bulk flow and yield behavior? We inwestigate the dense flow rheology of unsaturated granular materials through experiments and discrete element simulations of homogeneous, simple annular shear flows of frictional, cohesive, spherical particles.