CollectHomepage AdvertisementContact usMessage

Arid Land Geography ›› 2026, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (7): 1347-1359.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2025.491

• Earth Surface Process • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Base friction coefficient of steady-state particle flow under different thickness

DUAN Zhao1,2(), GUO Lei1,2(), WU Yanbin3, SONG Kun1,2, ZHANG Shunxin1,2   

  1. 1 College of Geology and Environment, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, China
    2 Institute of Ecological Environmental Restoration in Mine Areas of West China, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, China
    3 College of Oceanography, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 316021, Zhejiang, China
  • Received:2025-08-14 Revised:2025-10-18 Online:2026-07-25 Published:2026-07-07
  • Contact: GUO Lei E-mail:duanzhao@xust.edu.cn;guolei@stu.xust.edu.cn

Abstract:

The base friction coefficient is crucial to the flow characteristics of particle flow disasters, and the fluctuation force is an effective feedback of the interaction between the particle flow and the base, which may affect the variation of the base friction coefficient. The flow characteristics of steady-state particle flow at different thicknesses were identified through inclined trough physical model tests. The tangential and normal forces of the base were directly measured using a three-component force sensor, and the base fluctuation force and base friction coefficient were obtained. The results show that (1) The particle flow exhibits obvious stratification characteristics at different thicknesses. When the particle flow thickness reached 3 cm, the flow structure of the particle flow changed, a chimeric structure was formed between the bottom particles and promoted the occurrence of shear swelling phenomenon; however, no chimeric structure and shear swelling phenomenon were observed in the particle flow thicknesses of 1 cm and 2 cm. (2) By normalizing the fluctuation force of the particle flow, it is concluded that both the normalized tangential and normal fluctuation forces decrease exponentially with the increase in particle flow thickness, indicating that the strength of the base fluctuation force is directly related to the particle flow thickness. (3) As the particle flow thickness increases, the relationship between the base fluctuation force and the base friction coefficient changes from negative correlation to positive correlation, and the increase in the particle flow thickness can significantly enhance the collision frequency and intensity between particles, thereby significantly increasing the dynamic friction force between particles and weakening the dynamic friction force between particles and the base. The weakening of the dynamic friction force between particles and the base promotes the formation of chimeric structures between particles and causes shear swelling, ultimately resulting in a significant reduction in the base fluctuation force of the particle flow and the base friction coefficient.

Key words: granular flow, flow characteristics, base fluctuation force, base friction coefficient, particle flow thickness