title: Experimental demonstration of nonuniform frequency distributions of granular packings.
abstract: We developed an experimental method to generate mechanically stable (MS) packings of frictionless disks and performed coordinated experiments and simulations to characterize MS packings in small systems. For a given system geometry, MS packings occur as discrete, well-separated points in configuration space with probabilities that vary by many orders of magnitude and are robust with respect to the packing preparation. Over a continuous range of system geometries, MS packings occur as distinct geometrical families and only a small fraction of families are sampled via quasistatic dynamics. These results suggest that the most frequent MS packings may dominate the structural and mechanical properties of dense granular media.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8286, USA.
authors.forename: Guo-Jie
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blawzdziewicz
authors.forename: Corey S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: O'Hern
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shattuck
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015233:Models, Statistical; D033081:Shear Strength; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids