Shear flow of dense granular materials near smooth walls. II. Block formation and suppression of slip by rolling friction.

The role of rotational degrees of freedom and of microscopic contact properties at smooth walls in two dimensional planar shear has been investigated by contact dynamics simulations of round hard frictional particles. Our default system setup consists of smooth frictional walls, giving rise to slip. We show that there exists a critical microscopic friction coefficient at the walls, above which they are able to shear the granular medium. We observe distinctive features at this critical point, which to our knowledge have not been reported before. Activating rolling friction at smooth walls reduces slip, leading to similar shear behavior as for rough walls (with particles glued on their surface). Our simulations with rough walls are in agreement with previous results, provided the roughness is strong enough. In the limit of small roughness amplitude, however, the distinctive features of shearing with smooth walls are confirmed.