Fresh cement mortar is a type of workable paste, which can be well approximated as a Bingham plastic and whose flow behavior is of major concern in engineering. In this paper, Papanastasiou＇s model for Bingham fluids is solved by using the multiple- relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann model （MRT-LB）. Analysis of the stress growth exponent m in Bingham fluid flow simulations shows that Papanastasiou＇s model provides a good approximation of realistic Bingham plastics for values of m 〉 108. For lower values of m, Papanastasiou＇s model is valid for fluids between Bingham and Newtonian fluids. The MRT-LB model is validated by two benchmark problems： 2D steady Poiseuille flows and lid-driven cavity flows. Comparing the numerical results of the velocity distributions with corresponding analytical solutions shows that the MRT-LB model is appropriate for studying Bingham fluids while also providing better numerical stability. We further apply the MRT-LB model to simulate flow through a sudden expansion channel and the flow surrounding a round particle. Besides the rich flow structures obtained in this work, the dynamics fhi d force on the round particle is calculated. Results show that both the Reynolds number Re and the Bingham number Bn affect the drag coefficients Co, and a drag coefficient with Re and Bn being taken into account is proposed. The relationship of Bn and the ratio of unyielded zone thickness to particle diameter is also analyzed. Finally, the Bingham fluid flowing around a set of randomly dispersed particles is simulated to obtain the apparent viscosity and velocity fields. These results help simulation of fresh concrete flowing in porous media.
The effects of packing configurations on the phase transition of straight granular chute flow with two bottlenecks axe studied. The granular flow shows a dilute- to-dense flow transition when the channel width is varied, accompanied with a peculiar bistable phenomenon. The bistable phenomenon is induced by the initial packing config- uration of particles. When the packing is dense, the initial flux is small and will induce a dense flow. When the packing is loose, the initial flux is large and will induce a di- lute flow. The fabric network of granulax packing is analyzed from a complex network perspective. The degree distribution shows quantitatively different characteristics for the configurations. A two-dimensional （2D） packing clustering coefficient is defined to better quantify the fabric network.
The clustering behavior of a mono-disperse granular gas is experimentally studied in an asymmetric two-compartment setup. Unlike the random clustering in either compartment in the case of symmetric configuration when lowering the shaking strength to below a critical value, the directed clustering is observed, which corresponds to an imperfect pitchfork bifurcation. Numerical solutions of the flux equation using a modified simple flux function show qualitative agreements with the experimental results. The potential application of this asymmetric structure is discussed.
