Related papers: Where does a cohesive granular heap break?
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…
The transmission of stress through a marginally stable granular pile in two dimensions is exactly formulated in terms of a vector field of loop forces, and thence in terms of a single scalar potential. The loop force formulation leads to a…
We report on the nature of flow events for the gravity-driven discharge of glass beads through a hole that is small enough that the hopper is susceptible to clogging. In particular, we measure the average and standard deviation of the…
We propose the description of the granular matter which is based on distribution of dry friction coefficients. Using such a concept and a simple one-dimensional packing of grains we solve the silo problem. The friction coefficients at…
Sufficiently fine granular systems appear to exhibit continuum properties, though the precise continuum limit obtained can be vastly different depending on the particular system. We investigate the continuum limit of an unconfined, dense…
As a model of composite material, the fiber bundle model has been chosen -where a bundle of fibers is subjected to external load and fibers have distributed thresholds. For different loading conditions, such a system shows few precursors…
Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we find the formation of heaps in a system of granular particles contained in a box with oscillating bottom and fixed sidewalls. The simulation includes the effect of static friction, which is…
We study the dynamic process occurring when a granular assembly is displaced by a solid impactor. The momentum transfer from the impactor to the target is shown to occur through sporadic, normal collisions of high force carrying grains at…
In this letter, structural rigidity concepts are used to understand the origin of instabilities in granular aggregates. It is shown that: a) The contact network of a noncohesive granular aggregate becomes exactly isostatic in the limit of…
Shear thickening of particle suspensions is characterized by a transition between lubricated and frictional contacts between the particles. Using 3D numerical simulations, we study how the inter-particle friction coefficient influences the…
When a block made of an elastomer is subjected to large shear, its surface remains flat. When a block of biological soft tissue is subjected to large shear, it is likely that its surface in the plane of shear will buckle (apparition of…
We propose a simple continuum model to interpret the shearing motion of dense, dry and cohesion-less granular media. Compressibility, dilatancy and Coulomb-like friction are the three basic ingredients. The granular stress is split into a…
In this article, we review some of our approaches to granular dynamics, now well known to consist of both fast and slow relaxational processes. In the first case, grains typically compete with each other, while in the second, they…
Intrusions into granular media are common in natural and engineered settings (e.g. during animal locomotion and planetary landings). While intrusion of complex shapes in dry non-cohesive granular materials is well studied, less is known…
The quasi-brittle nature of rocks challenges the basic assumptions of linear hydraulic fracture mechanics (LHFM): linear elastic fracture mechanics and smooth parallel plates lubrication fluid flow. We relax these hypotheses and investigate…
Loose granular structures stabilized against gravity by an effective cohesive force are investigated on a microscopic basis using contact dynamics. We study the influence of the granular Bond number on the density profiles and the…
Fractures are a critical process in how materials wear, weaken, and fail whose unpredictable behavior can have dire consequences. While the behavior of smooth cracks in ideal materials is well understood, it is assumed that for real,…
Variational phase-field models of brittle fracture are powerful tools for studying Griffith-type crack propagation in complex scenarios. However, as approximations of Griffith's theory-which does not incorporate a strength criterion-these…
Adhesion interactions mediated by multiple bond types are relevant for many biological and soft matter systems, including the adhesion of biological cells and functionalized colloidal particles to various substrates. To elucidate advantages…
We investigate, at a laboratory scale, the collapse of cylindrical shells of radius $R$ and thickness $t$ induced by a granular discharge. We measure the critical filling height for which the structure fails upon discharge. We observe that…