Directed force chain networks and stress response in static granular materials

A theory of stress fields in two-dimensional granular materials based on directed force chain networks is presented. A general equation for the densities of force chains in different directions is proposed and a complete solution is obtained for a special case in which chains lie along a discrete set of directions. The analysis and results demonstrate the necessity of including nonlinear terms in the equation. A line of nontrivial fixed point solutions is shown to govern the properties of large systems. In the vicinity of a generic fixed point, the response to a localized load shows a crossover from a single, centered peak at intermediate depths to two propagating peaks at large depths that broaden diffusively.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures. Minor corrections to one figur

Force distribution in a scalar model for non-cohesive granular material

We study a scalar lattice model for inter-grain forces in static, non-cohesive, granular materials, obtaining two primary results. (i) The applied stress as a function of overall strain shows a power law dependence with a nontrivial exponent, which moreover varies with system geometry. (ii) Probability distributions for forces on individual grains appear Gaussian at all stages of compression, showing no evidence of exponential tails. With regard to both results, we identify correlations responsible for deviations from previously suggested theories.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, Submitted to PR

Response of a Hexagonal Granular Packing under a Localized External Force: Exact Results

We study the response of a two-dimensional hexagonal packing of massless, rigid, frictionless spherical grains due to a vertically downward point force on a single grain at the top layer. We use a statistical approach, where each mechanically stable configuration of contact forces is equally likely. We show that this problem is equivalent to a correlated $q$-model. We find that the response is double-peaked, where the two peaks, sharp and single-grain diameter wide, lie on the two downward lattice directions emanating from the point of the application of the external force. For systems of finite size, the magnitude of these peaks decreases towards the bottom of the packing, while progressively a broader, central maximum appears between the peaks. The response behaviour displays a remarkable scaling behaviour with system size $N$: while the response in the bulk of the packing scales as $\frac{1}{N}$, on the boundary it is independent of $N$, so that in the thermodynamic limit only the peaks on the lattice directions persist. This qualitative behaviour is extremely robust, as demonstrated by our simulation results with different boundary conditions. We have obtained expressions of the response and higher correlations for any system size in terms of integers corresponding to an underlying discrete structure.Comment: Accepted for publication in JStat; 33 pages, 10 figures; Section 2.2 reorganized and rewritten; Details about the simulation procedure added in Sec.3.1. ; A new section, summarizing the final results and the calculation procedure adde