2020/12/13 by Manuel Cárdenas-Barrantes, David Cantor, Jonathan Barés +3
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions #Atomic packing factor #Classical mechanics #Compaction #Composite material #Condensed matter physics #Contact force #Discrete element method #Elastic modulus #Granular flow and fluidized beds #Granular material #Homogenization (climate) #Isotropy #Jamming #Material Dynamics and Properties #Materials science #Mechanics #Modulus #Optics #Particle (ecology) #Physics #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.103.062902
published as Phys. Rev. E 103, 062902 (2021)
arxiv created 2020/12/13 · openalex publication_date 2021/06/11 · arxiv updated 2021/06/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We analyze the isotropic compaction of assemblies composed of soft pentagons interacting through classical Coulomb friction via numerical simulations. The effect of the initial particle shape is discussed by comparing packings of pentagons with packings of soft circular particles. We characterize the evolution of the packing fraction, the elastic modulus, and the microstructure (particle rearrangement, connectivity, contact force, and particle stress distributions) as a function of the applied stresses. Both systems behave similarly: the packing fraction increases and tends asymptotically to a maximum value ϕmax, where the bulk modulus diverges. At the microscopic scale we show that particle rearrangements occur even beyond the jammed state, the mean coordination increases as a square root of the packing fraction, and the force and stress distributions become more homogeneous as the packing fraction increases. Soft pentagons experience larger particle rearrangements than circular particles, and such behavior decreases proportionally to the friction. Interestingly, the friction between particles also contributes to a better homogenization of the contact force network in both systems. From the expression of the granular stress tensor we develop a model that describes the compaction behavior as a function of the applied pressure, the Young modulus, and the initial shape of the particles. This model, settled on the joint evolution of the particle connectivity and the contact stress, provides outstanding predictions from the jamming point up to very high densities.