Underwater granular flows down inclined planes

In this study, two-dimensional sub-grain scale numerical simulations are performed to under-
stand the local rheology of dense granular flows in fluid. The Discrete Element (DEM) technique is coupled
with the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), for fluid-grain interactions, to understand the evolution of im-
mersed granular flows. The fluid phase is simulated using Multiple-Relaxation-Time LBM (LBM-MRT) for
numerical stability. The Eulerian nature of the LBM formulation, together with the common explicit time step
scheme of both LBM and DEM makes this coupling strategy an efficient numerical procedure for systems dom-
inated by both grain–grain and grain–fluid interactions. In order to simulate interconnected pore space in 2D, a
reduction in the radius of the grains (hydrodynamic radius) is assumed during LBM computations. By varying
the hydrodynamic radius of the grains, granular materials of different permeabilities can be simulated. A para-
metric analysis is performed to assess the influence of the granular characteristics (initial packing, permeability,
slope of the inclined plane) on the evolution of flow and run-out distances. The effect of hydrodynamic forces
and hydroplaning on the run-out evolution is analysed by comparing the mechanism of energy dissipation and
flow evolution in dry and immersed granular flows. Voronoi tesselation was used to study the evolution of local
density and water entrainment at the flow front.