Infinite penetration of a projectile into a granular medium

An object falling in a fluid reaches a terminal velocity when the drag force and its weight are balanced. Contrastingly, an object impacting into a granular medium rapidly dissipates all its energy and comes to rest always at a shallow depth. Here we study, experimentally and theoretically, the penetration dynamics of a projectile in a very long silo filled with expanded polystyrene particles. We discovered that, above a critical mass, the projectile reaches a terminal velocity and, therefore, an endless penetration.     

运动物体在颗粒介质中的阻力形式

物体由重力驱动在颗粒介质中的运动过程，从动力学上可以用等效重力、颗粒床的黏性阻力及静压阻力来描述.通过求解此动力学模型，找到了一个能够控制颗粒系统处于不同阻尼状态的参量Γ，Γ的表达式直接反映了黏性阻力项和静压阻力项的竞争.这种竞争使得颗粒介质能够处于不同阻尼状态，表现出不同的表观阻力行为.根据理论分析结果设计实验，实现了对颗粒介质体系阻尼状态的调节，验证了理论模型给出的运动物体在颗粒介质中受到的阻力形式. 关键词： 颗粒体系 阻力 动力学过程     

The scaling and dynamics of a projectile obliquely impacting a granular medium

In this paper, the dynamics of a spherical projectile obliquely impacting into a two-dimensional granular bed is numerically investigated using the discrete element method. The influences of projectile’s initial velocities and impacting angles are mainly considered. Numerical results show that the relationship between the final penetration depth and the initial impact velocity is very similar to that in the vertical-impact case. However, the dependence of the stopping time on the impact velocity of the projectile exhibits critical characteristics at different impact angles: the stopping time approximately increases linearly with the impact velocity for small impact angles but decreases in an exponential form for larger impact angles, which demonstrates the existence of two different regimes at low and high impact angles. When the impact angle is regarded as a parametric variable, a phenomenological force model at large impact angles is eventually proposed based on the simulation results, which can accurately describe the nature of the resistance force exerted on the projectile by the granular medium at different impact angels during the whole oblique-impact process. The degenerate model agrees well with the existing experimental results in the vertical-impact cases.     

Dynamics of drag and force distributions for projectile impact in a granular medium

Our experiments and molecular dynamics simulations on a projectile penetrating a two-dimensional granular medium reveal that the mean deceleration of the projectile is constant and proportional to the impact velocity. Thus, the time taken for a projectile to decelerate to a stop is independent of its impact velocity. The simulations show that the probability distribution function of forces on grains is time independent during a projectile's deceleration in the medium. At all times the force distribution function decreases exponentially for large forces.     

Propagation of an ultimately short electromagnetic pulse in a nonlinear medium described by the fifth-order Duffing model

We discuss propagation of an ultimately short (single-cycle) pulse of an electromagnetic field in a medium whose dispersion and nonlinear properties can be described by the cubic-quintic Duffing model, i.e., by an oscillator with third-and fifth-order anharmonicity. A system of equations governing the evolution of a unidirectional electromagnetic wave is analyzed without using the approximation of slowly varying envelopes. Three types of solutions of this system describing stationary propagation of a pulse in such a medium are found. When the signs of the anharmonicity constants are different, then the amplitude of a steady-state pulse is limited, but its energy may grow on account of an increase in its duration. The characteristics of such a pulse, referred to as an electromagnetic domain, are discussed.     

重力驱动下运动物体在颗粒介质中的最大穿透深度

通过高速摄像的跟踪，研究了重力场中球形下落物体对松散颗粒床进行撞击并进入颗粒床内的运动过程.运用已得到的颗粒体系中运动物体的阻力模型，分析了物体质量对穿透深度的影响.研究表明，当物体与颗粒床撞击的初始速度较小时，物体在颗粒床中的最大穿透深度与物体质量呈近似线性关系. 实验得到的结果与模型符合很好. 关键词： 颗粒体系 阻力 动力学过程     

运动物体在颗粒物质中的动力学过程及最大穿透深度仿真研究

利用离散元法仿真了运动物体在颗粒物质中的三维动力学过程, 仿真采用周期边界条件, 并考虑了重力、接触力、阻尼力、摩擦力的影响. 将仿真结果和相关的三维实验结果进行了对比, 两者符合较好. 仿真结果表明穿透深度与运动物体的冲击速度、运动物体质量、颗粒介质床的密度均有关系. 运动物体质量越大, 速度越快, 则穿透越深, 而且穿透深度和质量呈线性关系. 仿真过程较为真实地再现了小颗粒的飞溅现象. 关键词： 颗粒物质 动力学过程 仿真 离散元法     

Stochastic dynamics of a sheared granular medium

We experimentally investigate the response of a sheared granular medium in a Couette geometry. The apparatus exhibits the expected stick-slip motion and we probe it in the very intermittent regime resulting from low driving. Statistical analysis of the dynamic fluctuations reveals notable regularities. We observe a possible stability property for the torque distribution, reminiscent of the stability of Gaussian independent variables. In this case, however, the variables are correlated and the distribution is skewed. Moreover, the whole dynamical intermittent regime can be described with a simple stochastic model, finding good quantitative agreement with the experimental data. Interestingly, a similar model has been previously introduced in the study of magnetic domain wall motion, a source of Barkhausen noise. Our study suggests interesting connections between different complex phenomena and reveals some unexpected features that remain to be explained.     

Two dimensional fractional projectile motion in a resisting medium

In this paper we propose a fractional differential equation describing the behavior of a two dimensional projectile in a resisting medium. In order to maintain the dimensionality of the physical quantities in the system, an auxiliary parameter k was introduced in the derivative operator. This parameter has a dimension of inverse of seconds (sec)^?1 and characterizes the existence of fractional time components in the given system. It will be shown that the trajectories of the projectile at different values of γ and different fixed values of velocity v ₀ and angle θ, in the fractional approach, are always less than the classical one, unlike the results obtained in other studies. All the results obtained in the ordinary case may be obtained from the fractional case when γ = 1.     

Magnetizations of a nanoparticle described by the transverse Ising model

The characteristic influences of size S, exchange interaction and transverse field on the longitudinal and transverse magnetizations of a ferroelectric small particle described by the transverse Ising model are investigated by the use of the standard mean-field theory. In particular, the longitudinal magnetization of a nanoparticle is strongly affected by the surface situations. The effective exponent β_eff of the longitudinal magnetization is also studied. We find some characteristic phenomena of β_eff, depending on the values of S and the ratios of the physical parameters. In relation of recent investigations, the thermal variations of longitudinal and transverse magnetizations in the nanoparticle, consisting of a ferromagnetic core with size S=3 surrounded by a ferromagnetic surface shell with an antiferromagnetic inter-shell coupling, are examined and some typical ferrimagnetic behaviors are found in them. In relation to these phenomena, the effects of surface dilution on the magnetizations are investigated and some novel features are found in the system with size S=3 surrounded by such a ferromagnetic diluted surface shell.     

The collision of particles in granular systems

Collisions between granular particles are irreversible processes which cause dissipation of mechanical energy by fragmentation or heating of the colliders. The knowledge of these phenomena is essential for the understanding of the behaviour of complex systems of granular particles. We have developed a model for inelastic collisions of granular particles and calculated the velocity restitution coefficients, which describe all possible collisions in the system. The knowledge of these coefficients allows for event-driven many-particle simulations which cannot be performed in the frame of molecular dynamics. This approach has the advantage that very large particle numbers can be treated which are necessary for the understanding of intrinsic large-scale phenomena in granular systems.     

Starting to move through a granular medium

We explore the process of initiating motion through a granular medium by measuring the force required to push a flat circular plate upward from underneath the medium. In contrast with previous measurements of the drag and penetration forces, which were conducted during steady state motion, the initiation force has a robust dependence on the diameter of the grains in the medium. We attribute this dependence to the requirement for local dilation of the grains around the circumference of the plate, as evidenced by an observed linear dependence of the initiation force on the plate diameter.     

Self-preservation of large-scale structures in a nonlinear viscous medium described by the Burgers equation

We use the asymptotic solution of the one-dimensional Burgers equation to study the self-preservation of large-scale random structures. We show that in the process of their evolution, large-scale structures remain stable against small-scale perturbations for the case of a continuous initial spectrum with a spectral index smaller than unity. We study both analytically and numerically the correlation coefficient of a large-scale structure and of the same structure with a high-frequency perturbation and show that with the passage of time the coefficient tends to unity. Using the asymptotic formulas of the theory of random excursion of stochastic processes, we study the statistical properties of the perturbing field and find that the effect of high-frequency perturbations is equivalent to the introduction of effective viscosity. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 564–583 (February 1999)     

Fluctuations of acoustic field in a granular medium

Results of an experimental study of sound propagation in a granular medium are presented. It is found that, in the case of excitation of a harmonic signal with a constant amplitude, the acoustic response of a single grain strongly varies in time. The dependence of the harmonic component amplitudes in the response spectrum on the level of signal excitation proves to be nonmonotonic and also strongly varies in time. The most intense fluctuations are observed in the subharmonic component of the propagating signal. The intensity fluctuation spectra of the harmonic components of the response are obtained for the frequency range of 10⁻⁴−10⁻¹ Hz. A possible mechanism that may be responsible for the slow fluctuations of an acoustic field in a granular medium is discussed.

     

Upward penetration of grains through a granular medium

We study experimentally the creeping penetration of guest (percolating) grains through densely packed granular media in two dimensions. The evolution of the system of the guest grains during the penetration is studied by image analysis. To quantify the changes in the internal structure of the packing, we use Voronoï tessellation and a certain shape factor which is a clear indicator of the presence of different underlying substructures (domains). We first consider the impact of the effective gravitational acceleration on upward penetration of grains. It is found that the higher effective gravity increases the resistance to upward penetration and enhances structural organization in the system of the percolating grains. We also focus our attention on the dependence of the structural rearrangements of percolating grains on some parameters like polydispersity and the initial packing fraction of the host granular system. It is found that the anisotropy of penetration is larger in the monodisperse case than in the bidisperse one, for the same value of the packing fraction of the host medium. Compaction of initial host granular packing also increases anisotropy of penetration of guest grains. When a binary mixture of large and small guest grains is penetrated into the host granular medium, we observe size segregation patterns.     

A nonlinear granular medium with particle rotation: A one-dimensional model

Equations of nonlinear acoustics are derived from the micromechanical representation of a granular medium as a system of elastically interacting particles possessing translational and rotational degrees of freedom. The structure of the equations is invariant with respect to the shape and size of the particles. The changes in the latter affect only the coefficients in the equations. The inclusion of microrotations and moment interactions of particles leads to the formation of a new type of waves in the medium—microrotational waves. Their dispersion properties are similar to those of spin waves propagating in a magnetoelastic medium. In the low-frequency approximation, the microrotational waves disappear, and the equation describing the transverse waves acquires a term with quadratic nonlinearity. The latter provides an explanation for the generation of the second shear harmonic that is observed in real solids contrary to the predictions of the nonlinear theory of elasticity, which prohibits such phenomena.     

Mixing and condensation in a wet granular medium

We have studied the effect of small amounts of added liquid on the dynamic behavior of a granular system consisting of a mixture of glass beads of two different sizes. Segregation of the large beads to the top of the sample is found to depend in a nontrivial way on the liquid content. A transition to viscoplastic behavior occurs at a critical liquid content, which depends upon the bead size. We show that this transition can be interpreted as a condensation due to the hysteretic liquid bridge forces connecting the beads, and we provide the corresponding phase diagram.     

Potential energy in a three-dimensional vibrated granular medium measured by NMR imaging

We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the swelling of randomly end-cross-linked polymer networks in good solvent conditions. We find that the equilibrium degree of swelling saturates at Q(eq) approximately N(3/5)(e) for mean strand lengths &Nmacr;(s) exceeding the melt entanglement length N(e). The internal structure of the network strands in the swollen state is characterized by a new exponent nu = 0.72+/-0.02. Our findings can be rationalized by a Flory argument for a self-similar structure of mutually interpenetrating network strands, agree partially with the classical Flory-Rehner theory, and are in contradiction to de Gennes' c(*)-theorem.     

Binary collision approximation for solitary waves in a Y-shaped granular chain

We implement a binary collision approximation to study solitary wave propagation in a two-dimensional double Y-shaped granular chain. The solitary wave was transmitted and reflected when it met the interface of the bifurcated branches of the Y-shaped granular chains. We obtain the analytic results of the ratios of the transmitted and reflected speeds to the incident speed of the solitary wave, the maximum force between the two neighbor beads in a solitary wave, and the total time taken by the pulse to pass through each branch. All of the analytic results are in good agreement with the experimental observations from Daraio et al. [Phys. Rev. E 82 036603 (2010)]. Moreover, we also discuss the delay effects on the arrival of split pulses, and predict the recombination of the split waves traveling in branches in the final stem of asymmetric systems. The prediction of pulse recombination is verified by our numerical results.