Dry granular flows: micromechanical interpretation of impacts on rigid obstacles.

The evaluation of impact forces exerted by flowing granular masses on rigid obstacles is of fundamental importance for the assessment of the associated risk and for the design of protection measures. A number of formulae are available in the literature for the maximum impact force; most of them are based on oversimplifying hypotheses about the behaviour of the granular material. For practical applications, formulations based on either hydrodynamic or elastic body models are often employed. These formulations require the use of empirical correcting factors. In order to better understand the impact mechanics, the authors have recently performed an extensive numerical campaign by using a Discrete Element approach (PFC3D code), where a dry granular mass is represented as a random distribution of rigid spherical particles. A new design formula, combining the hydrodynamic and elastic body theories, has been proposed on the base of the results obtained at the macroscopic scale. The parameters of the formula have been correlated with geometrical factors, namely front inclination and flow height. In this paper, the same DEM model is further used in order to investigate the relationship between the evolution with time of the impact force and the micromechanics of the granular mass. In particular, information about contact forces and particle velocities will be discussed and critically compared with macroscopic results. In order to progressively introduce the complexity of the impact phenomenon, three geometrical conditions are considered: a) vertical front, confined flow; b) vertical front, free surface flow; c) inclined front, free surface flow.