On a Differential Model for Sandpiles Growing in a Silo

Abstract

We discuss some features of a boundary value problem for a system of PDEs that describes the growth of a sandpile in a container under the action of a vertical source. In particular, we characterize the long-term behavior of the profiles, and we provide a sufficient condition on the vertical source that guarantees the convergence to the equilibrium in a finite time. We show by counterexamples that a stable configuration may not be reached in a finite time, in general, even if the source is time-independent. Finally, we provide a complete characterization of the equilibrium profiles.