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.
