Related papers: Optimizing Packing Fraction in Granular Media Comp…
If a collection of identical particles is poured into a container, different shapes will fill to different densities. But what is the shape that fills a container as close as possible to a pre-specified, desired density? We demonstrate a…
Obtaining general relations between macroscopic properties of random assemblies, such as density, and the microscopic properties of their constituent particles, such as shape, is a foundational challenge in the study of amorphous materials.…
Intuition tells us that a rolling or spinning sphere will eventually stop due to the presence of friction and other dissipative interactions. The resistance to rolling and spinning/twisting torque that stops a sphere also changes the…
We study the packing fraction of clusters in free-falling streams of spherical and irregularly shaped particles using flash X-ray radiography. The estimated packing fraction of clusters is low enough to correspond to coordination numbers…
Granular matter takes many paths to pack. Gentle compression, compaction or repetitive tapping can happen in natural and industrial processes. The path influences the packing microstructure, and thus macroscale properties, particularly for…
The most efficient way to pack equally sized spheres isotropically in 3D is known as the random close packed state, which provides a starting point for many approximations in physics and engineering. However, the particle size distribution…
Studies of random close packing of spheres have advanced our knowledge about the structure of systems such as liquids, glasses, emulsions, granular media, and amorphous solids. When these systems are confined their structural properties…
The packing and flow of aspherical frictional particles are studied using discrete element simulations. Particles are superballs with shape $|x|^{s}+|y|^{s}+|z|^{s} = 1$ that varies from sphere ($s=2$) to cube ($s=\infty$), constructed with…
Using sedimentation to obtain precisely controlled packings of noncohesive spheres, we find that the volume fraction $\phi_{\rm RLP}$ of the loosest mechanically stable packing is in an operational sense well defined by a limit process.…
Three-dimensional discrete numerical simulation is used to investigate the properties of close-packed frictionless granular assemblies as a function of particle polydispersity and shape. Unlike some experimental results, simulations show…
The random packing fraction of binary particles in D-dimensional Euclidean space R^D is studied using a geometric approach. First, the binary packing fraction of assemblies with small size difference are studied, using the excluded volume…
A collection of spherical particles can be packed tightly together into an amorphous packing known as "random close packing" (RCP). This structure is of interest as a model for the arrangement of molecules in simple liquids and glasses, as…
Finding the optimal random packing of non-spherical particles is an open problem with great significance in a broad range of scientific and engineering fields. So far, this search has been performed only empirically on a case-by-case basis,…
The random sequential adsorption of various particle shapes is studied in order to determine the influence of particle anisotropy on the saturated random packing. For all tested particles there is an optimal level of anisotropy which…
Motivated by breakthroughs in the synthesis of faceted nano- and colloidal particles, as well as theoretical and computational studies of their packings, we investigate a family of truncated triangular bipyramids. We report dense periodic…
Using computed x-ray tomography we determine the three dimensional (3d) structure of binary hard sphere mixtures as a function of composition and size ratio of the particles, q. Using a recently introduced four-point correlation function we…
In the classic circle packing problem, one asks whether a given set of circles can be packed into a given container. Packing problems like this have been shown to be $\mathsf{NP}$-hard. In this paper, we present new sufficient conditions…
We present the first systematic algorithm to estimate the maximum packing density of spheres when the grain sizes are drawn from an arbitrary size distribution. With an Apollonian filling rule, we implement our technique for disks in 2d and…
Self-assembly of granular particles is of great interest in both applied and basic research. It is commonly observed that when randomly packed into a container, granular particles form disordered structures like glass. As the particles are…
Packing problems have been of great interest in many diverse contexts for many centuries. The optimal packing of identical objects has been often invoked to understand the nature of low temperature phases of matter. In celebrated work,…