Simulation of dense granular flows: Comparison with experiments

A comparison of the predictions of a rheological model that we recently developed with experimental results of stress and flow profiles in a pilot scale silo is presented in this work. Experiments were performed to collect information on the flow field by means of a tracer method and on wall normal stresses at several different positions along the vessel. The silo (2.5 m high, 0.5 m wide) had the possibility of inserting internal devices; the model was first validated on data without internals and then used to predict the profiles for the case with them. Both stress and flow profiles with and without internals agree with the experimental results within the experimental error that locally could be rather significant due to the difficulty of large scale experiments with granular materials. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.