Local origin of global contact numbers in frictional ellipsoid packings

F.M. Schaller; M. Neudecker; M. Saadatfar; G.W. Delaney; G.E. Schröder-Turk; M. Schröter

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.158001

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Local origin of global contact numbers in frictional ellipsoid packings

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Local origin of global contact numbers in frictional ellipsoid packings

F.M. Schaller, M. Neudecker, M. Saadatfar, G.W. Delaney, G.E. Schröder-Turk and M. Schröter

Physical Review Letters, Vol.114(15), Article 158001

2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.158001

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Abstract

In particulate soft matter systems the average number of contacts Z of a particle is an important predictor of the mechanical properties of the system. Using x-ray tomography, we analyze packings of frictional, oblate ellipsoids of various aspect ratios alpha, prepared at different global volume fractions phi(g). We find that Z is a monotonically increasing function of phi(g) for all alpha. We demonstrate that this functional dependence can be explained by a local analysis where each particle is described by its local volume fraction phi(l) computed from a Voronoi tessellation. Z can be expressed as an integral over all values of phi(l): Z(phi(g), alpha, X) = integral Z(l)(phi(l), alpha, X)P(phi(l)/phi(g))d phi(l). The local contact number function Z(l)(phi(l), alpha, X) describes the relevant physics in term of locally defined variables only, including possible higher order terms X. The conditional probability P(phi(l)/phi(g)) to find a specific value of phi(l) given a global packing fraction phi(g) is found to be independent of a and X. Our results demonstrate that for frictional particles a local approach is not only a theoretical requirement but also feasible.

Details

Title: Local origin of global contact numbers in frictional ellipsoid packings
Authors/Creators: F.M. Schaller (Author/Creator) - Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
M. Neudecker (Author/Creator) - Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
M. Saadatfar (Author/Creator) - Australian National University
G.W. Delaney (Author/Creator) - CSIRO Manufacturing
G.E. Schröder-Turk (Author/Creator) - Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
M. Schröter (Author/Creator) - Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Publication Details: Physical Review Letters, Vol.114(15), Article 158001
Publisher: American Physical Society
Identifiers: 991005542688607891
Murdoch Affiliation: School of Engineering and Information Technology
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 7 Engineering & Materials Science; 7.139 Energy & Fuels; 7.139.524 Fluidization
Web Of Science research areas: Physics, Multidisciplinary
ESI research areas: Physics