A Study of granular flow deposition: Experimental and DEM Numerical Model

Abstract

This article presents a preliminary study on the flow behavior and deposition of dry granular materials through laboratory experiments combined with numerical modeling using the Discrete Element Method (DEM), a computational technique used to simulate the behavior and movement of granular particles. The materials used in the experiments consisted of mixtures of coarse and fine gravel with varying sizes and mixing ratios. The slope angles in the experiments were set at 25°, 30°, and 35°, in order to analyze the effects of material ratios and slope inclination on material distribution, as well as to evaluate the accuracy of the DEM numerical model. Studies have shown that the slope directly affects the dispersion of materials, with higher slopes causing materials to disperse over a larger area due to increased kinetic energy. Particle size also affects flow and dispersion, with materials with smaller particles tending to disperse more than materials with larger particles. The DEM numerical model was able to closely predict the actual flow behavior observed in the laboratory, with a relative error of 12.35% and an R² value of 0.9808 for the spreading area when compared with experimental data. The findings of this study can be applied to the design of engineering structures aimed at preventing and mitigating hazards from landslides or debris flows in a practical and effective manner.