Generation of homogeneous granular packings: Contact dynamics method with coupling to an external pressure bath

Abstract

The contact dynamics method (CD) is an efficient simulation technique of dense granular media where unilateral and frictional contact problems for a large number of rigid bodies have to be solved. In this paper we present a modified version of the contact dynamics to generate homogeneous random packings of rigid grains. CD is coupled to an external pressure bath, which allows the variation of the size of a periodically repeated cell. We follow the concept of the Andersen dynamics and show how it can be applied within the framework of the contact dynamics method. The main challenge here is to handle the interparticle interactions properly, which are based on constraint forces in CD. We implement the proposed algorithm, perform test simulations and investigate the properties of the final packings.

21 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Unjamming due to local perturbations in granular packings with and without gravity
• Unjamming of Granular Packings due to Local Perturbations: Stability and Decay of Displacements
• Extent of force indeterminacy in packings of frictional rigid disks

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Influence of polydispersity on micromechanics of granular materials
• An adaptive hierarchical domain decomposition method for parallel contact dynamics simulations of granular materials
• Unilateral interactions in granular packings: A model for the anisotropy modulus
• Diffusive transport of light in two-dimensional granular materials
• Gravity Governs Shear Localization in Confined Dense Granular Flows
• Evolution of shear zones in granular packings under pressure