Critical Fragmentation Properties of Random Drilling: How Many Holes Need to Be Drilled to Collapse a Wooden Cube?

A solid wooden cube fragments into pieces as we sequentially drill holes through it randomly. This seemingly straightforward observation encompasses deep and nontrivial geometrical and probabilistic behavior that is discussed here. Combining numerical simulations and rigorous results, we find off-cr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 116; no. 5; p. 055701
Main Authors Schrenk, K J, Hilário, M R, Sidoravicius, V, Araújo, N A M, Herrmann, H J, Thielmann, M, Teixeira, A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 05.02.2016
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:A solid wooden cube fragments into pieces as we sequentially drill holes through it randomly. This seemingly straightforward observation encompasses deep and nontrivial geometrical and probabilistic behavior that is discussed here. Combining numerical simulations and rigorous results, we find off-critical scale-free behavior and a continuous transition at a critical density of holes that significantly differs from classical percolation.
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.055701