Rheology of confined granular flows.

The properties of confined granular flows on a heap are studied through numerical simulations and experiments. We address how such system can be simulated with period boundaries in the flow direction. The packing fraction and velocity profiles are found to be described by one length scale. The dependence of the kinematic properties on the number of grains and on micromechanical parameters (coefficient of restitution and coefficient of friction) is described. Our results show that the friction at the sidewalls gradually decreases and that this decrease can be explained by the intermittent motion of the grains in the quasistatic part of the flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]