Onset of Mechanical Stability in Random Packings of Frictional Spheres

Melissa Jerkins, Matthias Schröter, Harry L. Swinney, Tim J. Senden, Mohammad Saadatfar, and Tomaso Aste
Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 018301 – Published 2 July 2008

Abstract

Using sedimentation to obtain precisely controlled packings of noncohesive spheres, we find that the volume fraction ϕRLP of the loosest mechanically stable packing is in an operational sense well defined by a limit process. This random loose packing volume fraction decreases with decreasing pressure p and increasing interparticle friction coefficient μ. Using x-ray tomography to correct for a container boundary effect that depends on particle size, we find for rough particles in the limit p0 a new lower bound, ϕRLP=0.550±0.001.

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  • Received 15 November 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.018301

©2008 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Melissa Jerkins, Matthias Schröter*, and Harry L. Swinney

  • Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

Tim J. Senden, Mohammad Saadatfar, and Tomaso Aste

  • Department of Applied Mathematics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, The Australian National University, 0200 Canberra, ACT, Australia

  • *matthias.schroeter@ds.mpg.de
  • swinney@chaos.utexas.edu

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Vol. 101, Iss. 1 — 4 July 2008

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