| Abstract: | The equations governing the elastic-plastic deformation of granular materials are typically hyperbolic, or contain small-magnitude damping or rate effects. A finite element algorithm is the standard method for the numerical integration of these systems. In particular, finite elements allow great flexibility in the design of grid geometry. However, modern finite difference methods for hyperbolic systems have been successful in aerodynamics computations, resolving wave structures more sharply than finite element schemes. In this paper we develop a finite difference scheme for granular flow problems. We report on a second-order Godunov-type scheme for the integration of hyperbolic equations for the elastoplastic deformation of a simple model of granular flow. The Godunov method includes a characteristic tracing step in the integration, providing minimal wave dispersion, and a slope limiting step, preventing unphysical oscillations. The granular flow model we consider is hyperbolic, but hyperbolicity is lost at a large value of accumulated plastic strain. This loss of hyperbolicity is a tell-tale signal for the formation of a shear band within the sample. Typically, when systems lose hyperbolicity a regularization mechanism is added to the model equations in order to maintain the well posedness of the system. These regularizations include viscosity, viscoplasticity, higher-order gradient effects or stress coupling. Here we appeal to a very different kind of regularization. When the system loses hyperbolicity and a shear band forms, we treat the band as an internal boundary, and impose jump conditions at this boundary. Away from the band, the system remains hyperbolic and the integration step proceeds as usual. |
