English

Discrete models of force chain networks

Soft Condensed Matter 2007-05-23 v3

Abstract

A fundamental property of any material is its response to a localized stress applied at a boundary. For granular materials consisting of hard, cohesionless particles, not even the general form of the stress response is known. Directed force chain networks (DFCNs) provide a theoretical framework for addressing this issue, and analysis of simplified DFCN models reveal both rich mathematical structure and surprising properties. We review some basic elements of DFCN models and present a class of homogeneous solutions for cases in which force chains are restricted to lie on a discrete set of directions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0212162,
  title  = {Discrete models of force chain networks},
  author = {Joshua E. S. Socolar},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0212162},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

17 pages, 6 figures, dcds-B.cls; Minor corrections to version 2, but including an important factor of 2; Submitted to Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems B for special issue honoring David Schaeffer