Related papers: Cracking and complexity of self-gravitating dissip…
Many clays, soils, biological tissues, foods, and coatings are shrinkable, granular materials: they are composed of packed, hydrated grains that shrink when dried. In many cases, these packings crack during drying, critically hindering…
Self-gravitating systems are expected to reach a statistical equilibrium state either through collisional relaxation or violent collisionless relaxation. However, a maximum entropy state does not always exist and the system may undergo a…
The experiments of Leptos et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 198103 (2009)] show that the displacements of small particles affected by swimming microorganisms achieve a non-Gaussian distribution, which nevertheless scales diffusively -- the…
We consider a variation of Griffith's analysis of rupture, one which simulates the process of hydrofracturing, where fluid forced into a crack raises the fluid pressure until the crack begins to grow. Unlike that of Griffith, in this…
Earthquakes are complex phenomena characterized by some fundamental seismic laws. However, under the framework of brittle fracture in disordered material, these universal scaling behaviors, especially for critical exponents, are still far…
Inertial particles suspended in many natural and industrial flows undergo coagulation upon collisions and fragmentation if their size becomes too large or if they experience large shear. Here we study this coagulation-fragmentation process…
The process of breaking of inviscid incompressible flows along a rigid body with slipping boundary conditions is studied. Such slipping flows are compressible, which is the main reason for the formation of a singularity for the gradient of…
We study the crackling noise emerging during single crack propagation in a specimen under three-point bending conditions. Computer simulations are carried out in the framework of a discrete element model where the specimen is discretized in…
Phase transitions not allowed in equilibrium steady states may happen however at the fluctuating level. We observe for the first time this striking and general phenomenon measuring current fluctuations in an isolated diffusive system. While…
Slip at a frictional interface occurs via intermittent events. Understanding how these events are nucleated, can propagate, or stop spontaneously remains a challenge, central to earthquake science and tribology. In the absence of disorder,…
The equation which describes a particle diffusing in a logarithmic potential arises in diverse physical problems such as momentum diffusion of atoms in optical traps, condensation processes, and denaturation of DNA molecules. A detailed…
It is well-known for vibro-impact systems that the existence of a periodic solution with a low-velocity impact (so-called grazing) may yield complex behavior of the solutions. In this paper we show that unstable periodic motions which pass…
During brittle crack propagation, a smooth crack front curve frequently becomes disjoint, generating a stepped crack and a material ligament that unites the newly formed crack fronts. These universal features fundamentally alter the…
Glassy systems are disordered systems characterized by extremely slow dynamics. Examples are supercooled liquids, whose dynamics slow down under cooling. The specific pattern of slowing-down depends on the material considered. This…
When a crack interacts with material heterogeneities, its front distorts and adopts complex tortuous configurations that are reminiscent of the energy barriers encountered during crack propagation. As such, the study of crack front…
Using molecular dynamics we study the dependence of the friction force on the sliding speed when an elastic slab (block) is sliding on a rigid substrate with a ${\rm sin} (q_0 x)$ surface height profile. The friction force is nearly…
We revisit the classic problem of the stability of drops and jets held by surface tension, while regarding the compressibility of bulk fluids and spatial dimensions as free parameters. By mode analysis, it is shown that there exists a…
In network systems, a local perturbation can amplify as it propagates, potentially leading to a large-scale cascading failure. Here we derive a continuous model to advance our understanding of cascading failures in power-grid networks. The…
Splashing occurs when a liquid drop hits a dry solid surface at high velocity. This paper reports experimental studies of how the splash depends on the roughness and the texture of the surfaces as well as the viscosity of the liquid. For…
It is shown here that fracture after a brief plastic strain, typically of a few percents, is a necessary consequence of the polycrystalline nature of the materials. The polycrystal undergoing plastic deformation is modeled as a flowing…