Polymerlike statistical characterization of two-dimensional granular chains

Statistical behaviors of packing collections of granular chains in a two-dimensional container have been investigated experimentally. On compaction from their own gravity, the longer chains pack into a structure with lower packing density due to the prevalence of backbone loops. The packing of chain...

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Published inPhysical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Vol. 85; no. 3 Pt 1; p. 031301
Main Authors Wen, Ping-Ping, Zheng, Ning, Li, Liang-Sheng, Li, Heng, Sun, Gang, Shi, Qing-Fan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.03.2012
Subjects
Colloids - chemistry
Computer Simulation
Models, Chemical
Models, Molecular
Models, Statistical
Polymers - chemistry
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Summary:Statistical behaviors of packing collections of granular chains in a two-dimensional container have been investigated experimentally. On compaction from their own gravity, the longer chains pack into a structure with lower packing density due to the prevalence of backbone loops. The packing of chains can be considered as the jamming of the granular system. The structure factor of packing chains shows scaling behavior g(q)∼q(-2) in good agreement with dense polymer solutions. In addition, we compute various probability distributions of distances and estimate three crucial contact exponents, finding that the scaling behavior from granular chains is in accord with the theoretical expectation of polymers. Finally, an orientational anticorrelation of granular chains is observed by bond-bond correlation function, which agrees with the results in the two-dimensional model of compact polymers.
ISSN:1550-2376
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevE.85.031301