title: Experimental investigation of plastic deformations before a granular avalanche.
abstract: We present an experimental study of the deformation inside a granular material that is progressively tilted. We investigate the deformation before the avalanche with a spatially resolved diffusive wave spectroscopy setup. At the beginning of the inclination process, we first observe localized and isolated events in the bulk, with a density which decreases with the depth. As the angle of inclination increases, series of microfailures occur periodically in the bulk, and finally a granular avalanche takes place. The microfailures are observed only when the tilt angles are larger than a threshold angle much smaller than the granular avalanche angle. We have characterized the density of reorganizations and the localization of microfailures. We have also explored the effect of the nature of the grains, the relative humidity conditions, and the packing fraction of the sample. We discuss those observations in the framework of the plasticity of granular matter. Microfailures may then be viewed as the result of the accumulation of numerous plastic events.
authors: Institut de Physique de Rennes, UMR UR1-CNRS 6251, Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, F-35042 RENNES cedex, France. axelle.amon@univ-rennes1.fr
authors: Axelle
authors: A
authors: Amon
authors: Roman
authors: R
authors: Bertoni
authors: Jérôme
authors: J
authors: Crassous
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D006244:Hardness; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids