English

Force distributions in a triangular lattice of rigid bars

Soft Condensed Matter 2009-11-11 v2

Abstract

We study the uniformly weighted ensemble of force balanced configurations on a triangular network of nontensile contact forces. For periodic boundary conditions corresponding to isotropic compressive stress, we find that the probability distribution for single-contact forces decays faster than exponentially. This super-exponential decay persists in lattices diluted to the rigidity percolation threshold. On the other hand, for anisotropic imposed stresses, a broader tail emerges in the force distribution, becoming a pure exponential in the limit of infinite lattice size and infinitely strong anisotropy.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0505003,
  title  = {Force distributions in a triangular lattice of rigid bars},
  author = {Brian P. Tighe and Joshua E. S. Socolar and David G. Schaeffer and W. Garrett Mitchener and Mark L. Huber},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0505003},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

11 pages, 17 figures Minor text revisions; added references and acknowledgment

R2 v1 2026-07-22T11:16:46.747Z