title: Self-organization, localization of shear bands, and aging in loose granular materials
abstract: We introduce a mesoscopic model for the formation and evolution of shear bands in loose granular media. Numerical simulations reveal that the system undergoes a nontrivial self-organization process which is governed by the motion of the shear band and the consequent restructuring of the material along it. High density regions are built up, progressively confining the shear bands in localized regions. This results in an inhomogeneous aging of the material with a very slow increase in the mean density, displaying an unusual glassylike system-size dependence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Physics, Technical University of Budapest, Budafoki ut 8, Budapest, H-1111, Hungary and Laboratoire de Physique et Mecanique des Milieux Heterogenes, ESPCI, 10 rue Vauquelin, Paris 75231, France.
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Torok
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnamurthy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kertesz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roux