Related papers: Perturbation-induced granular fluidization as a mo…

We perform molecular dynamics simulations of homogeneous athermal systems of poly-disperse soft discs under shear. For purely repulsive interactions between particles, and under a confining external pressure, a monotonous flow curve (strain…

Here we theoretically and computationally study the frequency dependence of phase speed and attenuation for marine sediments from the perspective of granular mechanics. We leverage recent theoretical insights from the granular physics…

We review a few representative examples of granular experiments or models where phase separation, accompanied by domain coarsening, is a relevant phenomenon. We first elucidate the intrinsic non-equilibrium, or athermal, nature of granular…

Tidal stress is a globally acting perturbation driven primarily by the gravitational forcing of the Moon and the Sun. Understanding how tidal stresses can trigger seismic events is essential for constraining tectonic environments that are…

Granular simulations are used to probe the particle scale dynamics at short, intermediate, and long time scales for gravity driven, dense granular flows down an inclined plane. On approach to the angle of repose, where motion ceases, the…

Earthquakes at seismogenic plate boundaries are a response to the differential motions of tectonic blocks embedded within a geometrically complex network of branching and coalescing faults. Elastic strain is accumulated at a slow strain…

Stress paths in granular matter often suffer sudden large-scale rearrangements when the system is slightly perturbed, i.e. granular systems are unstable. We show in this paper that the observed instability is due to the minimally rigid, or…

Several mechanisms cause a granular material to strengthen over time at low applied stress. The strength is determined from the maximum frictional force F_max experienced by a shearing plate in contact with wet or dry granular material…

This work extends the VirtualQuake earthquake simulation framework to incorporate the effects of fluid injection on fault stability and induced seismicity. Reworking VirtualQuake into a system using stress point sources, instead of…

Over the last two decades, strain and GPS measurements have shown that slow slip on earthquake faults is a widespread phenomenon. Slow slip is also inferred from correlated small amplitude seismic signals known as nonvolcanic tremor and low…

The way granular materials response to an applied shear stress is of the utmost relevance to both human activities and natural environment. One of the their most intriguing and less understood behavior, is the stick-instability, whose most…

Complex systems having metastable elements often demonstrate nearly log-time relaxations and a kind of aging: repeated stimuli weaken the system's relaxational response. Granular matter is known to exhibit a wealth of such behaviors, for…

This article focuses on liquefaction of saturated granular soils, triggered by earthquakes. Liquefaction is definedhere as the transition from a rigid state, in which the granular soil layer supports structures placed on its surface, toa…

The unexpected weakness of some faults has been attributed to the emergence of acoustic waves that promote failure by reducing the confining pressure through a mechanism known as acoustic fluidization, also proposed to explain earthquake…

The seismic waves emitted during granular flows are generated by different sources: high frequencies by inter-particle shocks and low frequencies by global motion and large scale deformation. To unravel these different mechanisms, an…

Seismic faults release the stress accumulated during tectonic movement through rapid ruptures or slow slip events. The slow slip events play a crucial role in the seismic cycle as they impact the occurrence of earthquakes. However, the…

Granular materials such as sand, powders, foams etc. are ubiquitous in our daily life, as well as in industrial and geotechnical applications. Although these disordered systems form stable structures if unperturbed, in practice they do…

We introduce a theoretical model for the compaction of granular materials by discrete vibrations which is expected to hold when the intensity of vibration is low. The dynamical unit is taken to be clusters of granules that belong to the…

Slow earthquakes differ from regular earthquakes in their slower moment release and size distribution dominated by smaller events. However, the physical origin of these slow earthquake statistics remains controversial. In this work, we…

In this paper, the process of shear deformation of the medium formed by the cubic grains is investigated experimentally. It is demonstrated that the deformation process is intermittent and accompanied by the radiation of acoustic…