Abstract
Velocity fluctuations of grains flowing down a rough inclined plane are experimentally studied. The grains at the free surface exhibit fluctuating motions, which are correlated over a few grain diameters. The characteristic correlation length is shown to depend on the inclination of the plane and not on the thickness of the flowing layer. This result strongly supports the idea that dense granular flows are controlled by a characteristic length larger than the particle diameter.
- Received 10 August 2004
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.248001
©2004 American Physical Society