Influence of pore fluid on grain‐scale interactions and mobility of granular flows of differing volume

The presence of a pore fluid is recognized to significantly increase the mobility of saturated over dry granular flows. However, the mechanisms through which pore fluid increases mobility may not be captured in experimental flows of small volume typical of laboratory conditions. Here we present the results of dry and initially fluid saturated or “wet” experimental flows of near-monodisperse coarse-grained ceramic particles in a large laboratory flume for five source volumes of 0.2 to 1.0 m3. Measurements include flow height, velocity profile, pore pressure, and evolving solid volume fraction, as well as the final deposit shape. The dry experiments constrain the frictional properties of the common granular material and comparison with wet flows permits an independent evaluation of the interstitial fluid effects. These results demonstrate that flow dilation and strong variation in the velocity profile are directly linked to a greatly increased mobility for wet granular flows compared to dry, and a significant influence of scale as controlled by source volume on flow behaviour. Excess pore pressure need not be present for these effects to occur.