Patterns in flowing sand: understanding the physics of granular flow

Dense granular flows are often unstable and form inhomogeneous structures. Although significant advances have been recently made in understanding simple flows, instabilities of such flows are often not understood. We present experimental and numerical results that show the formation of longitudinal stripes that arise from instability of the uniform flowing state of granular media on a rough inclined plane. The form of the stripes depends critically on the mean density of the flow with a robust form of stripes at high density that consists of fast sliding pluglike regions (stripes) on top of highly agitated boiling material--a configuration reminiscent of the Leidenfrost effect when a droplet of liquid lifted by its vapor is hovering above a hot surface.