2021/01/29 by Hugo Perrin, Matthieu Wyart, Bloen Metzger +1 · 20 citations
Chemical Engineering · Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Boundary layer #Classical mechanics #Condensed matter physics #Criticality #Flow (mathematics) #Granular flow and fluidized beds #Hysteresis #Inclined plane #Jamming #Material Dynamics and Properties #Mechanics #Phenomenology (philosophy) #Physics #Rheology #Rheology and Fluid Dynamics Studies #Statistical physics #Thermodynamics #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.126.228002
published in Physical Review Letters 126(22), 228002 (American Physical Society) · 5 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2021/01/29 · openalex publication_date 2021/06/01 · arxiv updated 2021/06/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
The jamming transition is accompanied by a rich phenomenology such as hysteresis or nonlocal effects that is still not well understood. Here, we experimentally investigate a model frictionless granular layer flowing down an inclined plane as a way to disentangle generic collective effects from those arising from frictional interactions. We find that thin frictionless granular layers are devoid of hysteresis of the avalanche angle, yet the layer stability increases as it gets thinner. Steady rheological laws obtained for different layer thicknesses can be collapsed into a unique master curve, supporting the idea that nonlocal effects are the consequence of the usual finite-size effects associated with the presence of a critical point. This collapse indicates that the so-called isostatic length l*, the scale on which pinning a boundary freezes all remaining floppy modes, governs the effect of boundaries on flow and rules out other propositions made in the past.