Abstract
Dense granular matter is a conglomeration of discrete solid and closely packed particles. As subjected to external loadings, the stress is largely transmitted by heavily stressed chains of particles forming a sparse network of larger contact forces. To understand the structure and evolution of force chains, a photoelastic technique was improved for determining stresses and strains in the assemblies of photoelastic granular disks in this paper. A two-dimensional vertical slab was designed. It contains 7200 polydispersed photoelastic disks and is subjected to a localized probe penetrating at the top of the slab to mimic the cone penetration test. The interparticle contact force distribution was found a peak around the mean value, a roughly exponential tail for greater force and a dip toward zero for smaller force. The force chain network around the probe tip was depicted, and the contact angle distribution of particles in force chains was found to be well aligned in the directions of major principal stress.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Thornton C. Force transmission in granular media. Kona Powder and Particle, 1997, (15): 81–90
Goldenberg C, Goldhirsch I. Effects of friction and disorder on the quasi static response of granular solids to a localized force. Physical Review E, 2008, 77(4): 041303
Kolb E, Goldenberg C, Inagaki S, Clément E. Reorganization of a 2D disordered granular medium due to a small local cyclic perturbation. Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, 2006, (7): 07017, doi: 10.1088/1742-5468/2006/07/P07017
Bagi K. Stress and strain in granular assemblies. Mechanics Materials, 1996, 22(3): 165–177
Thornton C, Antony S J. Quasi-static shear deformation of a soft particle system. Powder Technology, 2000, 109(1–3): 179–191
Kruyt N P, Rothenburg L. Kinematic and static assumptions for homogenization in micromechanics of granular materials. Mechanics of Materials, 2004, 36(12): 1157–1173
Cates M E, Wittmer J P, Bouchaud J P, Claudin P. Jamming and static stress transmission in granular materials. Chaos, 1999, 9(3): 511–522
Sun Q C, Wang G Q, Hu K H. Some open problems in granular matter mechanics. Progress in Natural Science, 2009, 19(5): 523–529
Smart A, Ottino J M. Granular matter and networks: three related examples. Soft Matter, 2008, 4(11): 2125–2131
Dantu P. Contribution à l’étude mécanique et géométrique des milieux pulvérulents. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, London. Oxford: Butterworks Scientific Publications, 1957, 1: 144–148
Wakabayashi T. Photo-elastic method for determination of stress in powdered mass. Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 1936, 5(5): 383–385
Hartley R R. Evolving force networks in deforming granular materials. Dissertation for the Doctoral Degree. Durham, NC: Duke University, 2003
Løvoll G, Måløy K J, Flekkøy E G. Force measurements on static granular materials. Physical Review E, 1999, 60(5): 5872–5878
Majmudar T S, Behringer R P. Contact force measurements and stress-induced anisotropy in granular materials. Nature, 2005, 435(1079): 1079–1082
Stone M B, Barry R, Bernstein D P, Pelc M D, Tsui Y K, Schiffer P. Local jamming via penetration of a granular medium. Physical Review E, 2004, 70: 041301
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, J., Sun, Q. & Jin, F. Visualization of force networks in 2D dense granular materials. Front. Archit. Civ. Eng. China 4, 109–115 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-010-0003-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-010-0003-8