Stick-slip regime of shear granular flows is studied theoretically and numerically. Numerical experiments are carried out for a thin Couette cell using soft-particle molecular dynamics code in two dimensions. We apply order parameter theory of partially fluidized granular flows and find a good agreement with simulations and experiments by Nasuno et al.

The stability of the hydromagnetic Couette flow is investigated when a constant current is applied along the axis of the cylinders. It is shown that if the resulting toroidal magnetic field depends only on this current, no linear instability to axisymmetric disturbances is possible. c © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stress transmission in realistic granular media often occurs under external load and the presence of boundary slip. We demonstrate how shear strain is localized a split-bottom Couette cell with smooth walls subject to confining pressure.