Rheology of granular liquids in extensional flows: Beyond the μ(I)-law

The Granular Integration Through Transients (GITT) formalism gives a theoretical description of the rheology of moderately dense granular flows and suspensions. In this work, we extend the GITT equations beyond the case of simple shear flows studied before. Applying this to the particular example of extensional flows, we show that the predicted behavior is somewhat different from that of the more frequently studied simple shear case, as illustrated by the possibility of nonmonotonous evolution of the effective friction coefficient μ with the inertial number I. By the reduction of the GITT equations to simple toy models, we provide a generalization of the μ(I)-law true for any type of flow deformation. Our analysis also includes a study of the Trouton ratio, which is shown to behave quite similarly to that of dense colloidal suspensions.