DSMC simulations of rarefied granular gases: hydrodynamics, rheology and segregation

Abstract

Rarefied gas dynamics show marked deviations from Navier-Stokes dynamics, which make them interesting to study. This thesis on rarefied ’granular’ gas dynamics, aims to study a prototypical flow setup of smooth inelastic hard spheres flowing down a channel, dubbed granular Poiseuille flow (GPF). Using Direct Simulations Monte Carlo simulations, we have studied the effects of dissipation and rarefaction on the general hydrodynamics and rheology, and have elucidated the crucial role of boundaries in determining the occurrence of a Knudsen minima in a granular gas. The role of mass bidispersity on a dilute granular binary mixture is highlighted by adapting the 3D DSMC code developed, for simulating the Poiseuille flow of a dilute bidisperse granular mixture.