2003/05/31 by Fernando Alonso-Marroquín, F. Alonso-Marroquin, Hans J. Herrmann +1 · 2 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Granular flow and fluidized beds #High-Velocity Impact and Material Behavior #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.92.054301
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 054301 (2004) · Changed content Submitted to Physical Review Letters
arxiv created 2003/10/23 · openalex publication_date 2004/02/06 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We investigate the quasistatic mechanical response of soils under cyclic loading using a discrete model of randomly generated convex polygons. This response exhibits a sequence of regimes, each one characterized by a linear accumulation of plastic deformation with the number of cycles. At the grain level, a quasiperiodic ratchetlike behavior is observed at the contacts, which excludes the existence of an elastic regime. The study of this slow dynamics allows exploration of the role of friction in the permanent deformation of unbound granular materials subjected to cyclic loading.