English

Unifying impacts in granular matter from quicksand to cornstarch

Soft Condensed Matter 2016-08-31 v1

Abstract

A sharp transition between liquefaction and transient solidification is observed during impact on a granular suspension depending on the initial packing fraction. We demonstrate, via high-speed pressure measurements and a two-phase modeling, that this transition is controlled by a coupling between the granular pile dilatancy and the interstitial fluid pressure generated by the impact. Our results provide a generic mechanism for explaining the wide variety of impact responses in particulate media, from dry quicksand in powders to impact-hardening in shear-thickening suspensions like cornstarch.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1603.07013,
  title  = {Unifying impacts in granular matter from quicksand to cornstarch},
  author = {J John Soundar Jerome and Nicolas Vandenberghe and Yoel Forterre},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.07013},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

e.g. 11 pages, 4 figures, 3 supplemetal figures, one supplemental table