Forces and grain-grain contacts in bidisperse beds sheared by viscous fluids

TL;DR

This study uses CFD-DEM simulations to analyze grain forces and contacts in bidisperse beds sheared by viscous fluids, revealing force distribution and grain segregation mechanisms relevant to natural phenomena like river beds and landslides.

Contribution

It provides detailed insights into force distribution and grain segregation mechanisms in sheared granular beds using numerical simulations, advancing understanding of fluid-grain interactions.

Findings

Fluid forces dominate in the upper bedload layer during upward grain motion.

Contact forces are significant in the creep and lower bedload layers.

Grains experience a moment about a -45° contact point during upward migration.

Abstract

In a recent paper (Gonzalez et al., 2023), we investigated the motion of grains within a granular bed sheared by a viscous fluid, and showed how segregation and hardening occur in the fluid- (bedload) and solid-like (creep) regions. In this paper, we inquire further into the mechanisms leading to grain segregation in a bidisperse bed, and how the forces are distributed. For that, we carried out numerical simulations at the grain scale by using CFD-DEM (computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method), with which we were able to track the positions, velocities, forces, and solid contacts underwent by each grain. We show that during the upward motion of large grains the direct action of fluid forces is significant in the middle and upper parts of the bedload layer, while only contact forces are significant in the creep layer and lower part of the bedload layer. We also show that in all cases the particles experience a moment about a -45 degrees contact point (with respect to the horizontal plane) when migrating upward, whether entrained by other contacts or directly by the fluid. In addition, we show the variations in the average solid-solid contacts, and how forces caused either by solid-solid contacts or directly by the fluid are distributed within the bed. Our results provide the relationship between force propagation and reorganization of grains in sheared beds, explaining mechanisms found, for example, in river beds and landslides.