Measuring and upscaling micromechanical interactions in a cohesive granular material
arXiv:2103.13766 · doi:10.1039/d1sm00458a
Abstract
The mechanical properties of a disordered heterogeneous medium depend, in general, on a complex interplay between multiple length scales. Connecting local interactions to macroscopic observables, such as stiffness or fracture, is thus challenging in this type of material. Here, we study the properties of a cohesive granular material composed of glass beads held together by soft polymer bridges. We characterise the mechanical response of single bridges under traction and shear, using a setup based on the deflection of flexible micropipettes. These measurements, along with information from X-ray microtomograms of the granular packings, then inform large-scale discrete element model (DEM) simulations. Although simple, these simulations are constrained in every way by empirical measurement and accurately predict mechanical responses of the aggregates, including details on their compressive failure, and how the material's stiffness depends on the stiffness and geometry of its parts. By demonstrating how to accurately relate microscopic information to macroscopic properties, these results provide new perspectives for predicting the behaviour of complex disordered materials, such as porous rock, snow, or foam.
arXiv comment9 pages, 5 figures
References in corpus (14)
- A random critical point separates brittle and ductile yielding transitions in amorphous materials
- From damage percolation to crack nucleation through finite size criticality
- Computer simulation of model cohesive powders: Plastic consolidation, structural changes and elasticity under isotropic loads
- Rupture cascades in a discrete element model of a porous sedimentary rock
- Tunable failure: control of rupture through rigidity
- Approach to failure in porous granular materials under compression
- A cohesive granular material with tunable elasticity
- Rigidity percolation control of the brittle-ductile transition in disordered networks
- Deformation-Driven Diffusion and Plastic Flow in Two-Dimensional Amorphous Granular Pillars
- Failure processes of cemented granular materials
- Fracture of a model cohesive granular material
- Fracture of granular materials composed of arbitrary grain shapes: A new cohesive interaction model
- Anisotropic Particles Strengthen Granular Pillars under Compression
- Rheology of cohesive granular particles under constant pressure