Granular fingers on jammed systems: new fluidlike patterns arising in grain-grain invasion experiments

In this Letter we report spontaneous pattern formation in dense granular assemblies confined to a Hele-Shaw cell and quasistatic regime. Varied unexpected patterns, ranging from rounded to fingered, are observed due to the displacement of one granular material by another. Computer simulations reprod...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 99; no. 6; p. 068001
Main Authors Pinto, S F, Couto, M S, Atman, A P F, Alves, S G, Bernardes, A T, de Resende, H F V, Souza, E C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 10.08.2007
Subjects
Biocompatible Materials - chemistry
Carbon - chemistry
Computer Simulation
Lactic Acid - chemistry
Models, Theoretical
Polyglycolic Acid - chemistry
Polymers - chemistry
Polystyrenes - chemistry
Steel - chemistry
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Summary:In this Letter we report spontaneous pattern formation in dense granular assemblies confined to a Hele-Shaw cell and quasistatic regime. Varied unexpected patterns, ranging from rounded to fingered, are observed due to the displacement of one granular material by another. Computer simulations reproduce the major features observed in these experiments. Two mechanisms are responsible for the pattern formation: crystallization of the injected grains and plastic deformation of the displaced grains. The experiment suggests analogies with viscous fingering and jamming transition experiments.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.068001