Friction law and hysteresis in granular materials

The macroscopic friction of particulate materials often weakens as the flow rate is increased, leading to potentially disastrous intermittent phenomena including earthquakes and landslides. We theoretically and numerically study this phenomenon in simple granular materials. We show that velocity-weakening, corresponding to a non-monotonic behavior in the friction law $\mu(I)$, is present even if the dynamic and static microscopic friction coefficients are identical, but disappears for softer particles. We argue that this instability is induced by endogenous acoustic noise, which tends to make contacts slide, leading to faster flow and increased noise. We show that soft spots, or excitable regions in the materials, correspond to rolling contacts that are about to slide, whose density is described by a nontrivial exponent $\theta_s$. We build a microscopic theory for the non-monotonicity of $\mu(I)$, which also predicts the scaling behavior of acoustic noise, the fraction of sliding contacts $\chi$ and the sliding velocity, in terms of $\theta_s$. Surprisingly, these quantities have no limit when particles become infinitely hard, as confirmed numerically. Our analysis rationalizes previously unexplained observations and makes new experimentally testable predictions.Comment: 6 pages + 3 pages S

Non-equilibrium thermodynamical framework for rate- and state-dependent friction

Rate- and state-dependent friction law for velocity-step and healing are analysed from a thermodynamic point of view. Assuming a logarithmic deviation from steady-state a unification of the classical Dieterich and Ruina models of rock friction is proposed.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Unsteady 3D-Navier-Stokes System with Tresca's Friction Law

Motivated by extrusion problems, we consider a non-stationary incompress-ible 3D fluid flow with a non-constant (temperature dependent) viscosity, subjected to mixed boundary conditions with a given time dependent velocity on a part of the boundary and Tresca's friction law on the other part. We construct a sequence of approximate solutions by using a regularization of the free boundary condition due to friction combined with a particular penalty method, reminiscent of the " incompressibility limit " of compressible fluids, allowing to get better insights into the links between the fluid velocity and pressure fields. Then we pass to the limit with compactness arguments to obtain a solution to our original problem

Self-Similarity of Friction Laws

The change of the friction law from a mesoscopic level to a macroscopic level is studied in the spring-block models introduced by Burridge-Knopoff. We find that the Coulomb law is always scale invariant. Other proposed scaling laws are only invariant under certain conditions.}Comment: Plain TEX. Figures not include

Nonlinear shear wave interaction at a frictional interface: Energy dissipation and generation of harmonics

Analytical and numerical modelling of the nonlinear interaction of shear wave with a frictional interface is presented. The system studied is composed of two homogeneous and isotropic elastic solids, brought into frictional contact by remote normal compression. A shear wave, either time harmonic or a narrow band pulse, is incident normal to the interface and propagates through the contact. Two friction laws are considered and their influence on interface behavior is investigated : Coulomb's law with a constant friction coefficient and a slip-weakening friction law which involves static and dynamic friction coefficients. The relationship between the nonlinear harmonics and the dissipated energy, and their dependence on the contact dynamics (friction law, sliding and tangential stress) and on the normal contact stress are examined in detail. The analytical and numerical results indicate universal type laws for the amplitude of the higher harmonics and for the dissipated energy, properly non-dimensionalized in terms of the pre-stress, the friction coefficient and the incident amplitude. The results suggest that measurements of higher harmonics can be used to quantify friction and dissipation effects of a sliding interface.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

Thermodynamic aspects of rock friction

Rate- and state-dependent friction law for velocity-step tests is analyzed from a thermodynamic point of view. A simple macroscopic non-equilibrium thermodynamic model with a single internal variable reproduces instantaneous jump and relaxation. Velocity weakening appears as a consequence of a plasticity related nonlinear coefficient. Permanent part of displacement corresponds to plastic strain, and relaxation effects are analogous to creep in thermodynamic rheology.Comment: 13 pages 3 figures. Revision: thermodynamic compatibility of velocity weakenin