Related papers: Root growth and force chains in a granular soil

When transported in confined geometries rigid fibers show interesting transport dynamics induced by friction with the top and bottom walls. Fiber flexibility causes an additional coupling between fiber deformation and transport and is…

It is possible to build free-standing, load-bearing structures using only rocks and loops of elastic material. We investigate how these structures emerge, and find that the necessary maximum loop spacing (the critical spacing) is a function…

We have synthesized boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) in an arc in presence of boron and nitrogen species only, without transition metals. We find that BNNTs are often attached to pure boron nanoparticles, suggesting that root-growth is a…

A new model for biological growth is introduced that couples the geometry of an organism (or part of the organism) to the flow and deposition of material. The model has three dynamical variables (a) a Riemann metric tensor for the geometry,…

We simulate the granulation process of solid spherical particles in the presence of a viscous liquid in a horizontal rotating drum by using molecular dynamics simulations in three dimensions. The numerical approach accounts for the cohesive…

Granular materials often present correlations between particle size and shape due to their geological formation and mechanisms of weathering and fragmentation. It is known that particle shape strongly affects shear strength. However, the…

Context. Observations of flux emergence indicate that rotational velocities may develop within sunspots. However, the dependence of this rotation on sub-photospheric field strength and twist remains largely unknown. Aims. We investigate the…

The dynamical mechanisms underlying the grain evolution and growth are of fundamental importance in controlling the structural properties of large-scale polycrystalline materials, but the effects of lattice ordering and distinct atomic…

Epithelial cell layers on soft elastic substrates or pillar arrays are commonly used as model systems for investigating the role of force in tissue growth, maintenance and repair. Here we show analytically that the experimentally observed…

Ratcheting surfaces are a common motif in nature and appear in plant awns and grasses. They are known to profer selective advantages for seed dispersion and burial. In two simple model experiments we show that these anisotropically toothed…

Amorphous grain boundary complexions act as toughening features within a microstructure because they can absorb dislocations more efficiently than traditional grain boundaries. This toughening effect should be a strong function of the local…

Localized deformation patterns are a common motif in morphogenesis and are increasingly finding widespread applications in materials science, for instance as memory devices. Here we describe the emergence of spatially localized deformations…

Mixing grains with different properties is a remarkably challenging process, relevant to many industrial applications. Rotating drums have been used extensively as model systems to study granular media flow and mixing and segregation.…

We employ a novel fluid-particle model to study the shearing behavior of granular soils under different saturation levels, ranging from the dry material via the capillary bridge regime to higher saturation levels with percolating clusters.…

The coupled mechanics of fluid-filled granular media controls the behavior of many natural systems such as saturated soils, fault gouge, and landslides. The grain motion and the fluid pressure influence each other: It is well established…

Force fluctuations in granular materials are investigated. A continuum equation is derived starting from a discrete model proposed in the literature. The influence of boundary conditions is investigated. For periodic boundary conditions the…

In growing plant cells, parallel ordering of microtubules (MTs) along the inner surface of the cell membrane influences the direction of cell expansion and thereby plant morphology. For correct expansion of organs that primarily grow by…

In this paper we consider the multiscale modelling of water transport in vegetated soil. In the microscopic model we distinguish between subdomains of soil and plant tissue, and use the Richards equation to model the water transport through…

The paper addresses the underlying source of two forms of induced anisotropy in granular materials: contact orientation anisotropy and contact force anisotropy. A rational, mathematical structure is reviewed for the manner in which fabric…

Ever since the ground breaking work of Trepat et al. in 2009, we know that cell colonies growing on a substrate can be under tensile mechanical stress. The origin of tension has so far been attributed to cellular motility forces being…