A granular fluid modeled as a driven system of elastic hard spheres

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether a driven elastic hard sphere model can effectively replicate the transport properties of a granular gas, using simulations and extending kinetic models to inelastic collisions.

Contribution

It demonstrates that a driven elastic hard sphere model can approximate a granular gas's transport properties, extending kinetic models to inelastic collisions.

Findings

Good agreement between inelastic and driven elastic models in shear flow

Monte Carlo simulations validate the model's effectiveness

Extension of kinetic models to inelastic systems

Abstract

We explore the possibility of describing the main transport properties of a granular gas by means of a model consisting of elastic hard spheres under the action of a drag force that mimics the inelastic cooling of the granular gas. Direct Monte Carlo simulations of the Boltzmann equation show a good agreement between the results for a gas of inelastic hard spheres and those for a gas of driven elastic hard spheres in the simple shear flow state. This approximate equivalence between both systems is exploited to extend known kinetic models for elastic collisions to the inelastic case.