Collapse and merging of cavity regions in a granular material due to viscous flow

Experimental studies are made on the collapse of macroscopic cavity regions placed in an otherwise homogeneous granular material due to viscous flow. First, an initially circular two-dimensional hole is exposed to a uniform flow at infinity and the process of boundary shape deformation due to locally enhanced stress components is clarified. Above a certain critical velocity, particles on the upstream-side boundary lose contact with neighboring ones, and are carried to the other side of the boundary. At the same time the fluidized region develops towards upstream direction in the granular material. A simple scaling law on the reduction of the void area is obtained. Second, attention is paid to the interaction of two circular cavities of equal radii, whose center-to-center distance and angle of attack are varied. In some configuration of cavities, lowering of the critical velocity of collapse is recognized. Successive processes on the collapse of upstream-side and downstream-side cavities are classified depending on the magnitude of velocity and the configuration of cavities. A possible scenario on the growth of global scale patterns in granular material such as water vein formation and landslides is suggested.