The response to a localized force provides a sensitive test for different models of stress transmission in granular solids. The elasto-plastic models traditionally used by engineers have been challenged by theoretical and experimental results which s
uggest a wave-like (hyperbolic) propagation of the stress, as opposed to the elliptic equations of static elasticity. Numerical simulations of two-dimensional granular systems subject to a localized external force are employed to examine the nature of stress transmission in these systems as a function of the magnitude of the applied force, the frictional parameters and the disorder (polydispersity). The results indicate that in large systems (typically considered by engineers), the response is close to that predicted by isotropic elasticity whereas the response of small systems (or when sufficiently large forces are applied) is strongly anisotropic. In the latter case the applied force induces changes in the contact network accompanied by frictional sliding. The larger the coefficient of static friction, the more extended is the range of forces for which the response is elastic and the smaller the anisotropy. Increasing the degree of polydispersity (for the range studied, up to 25%) decreases the range of elastic response. This article is an extension of a previously published letter [1].
The modeling of the elastic properties of disordered or nanoscale solids requires the foundations of the theory of elasticity to be revisited, as one explores scales at which this theory may no longer hold. The only cases for which microscopically ba
sed derivations of elasticity are documented are (nearly) uniformly strained lattices. A microscopic approach to elasticity is proposed. As a first step, microscopically exact expressions for the displacement, strain and stress fields are derived. Conditions under which linear elastic constitutive relations hold are studied theoretically and numerically. It turns out that standard continuum elasticity is not self-evident, and applies only above certain spatial scales, which depend on details of the considered system and boundary conditions. Possible relevance to granular materials is briefly discussed.
The modeling of the elastic properties of granular or nanoscale systems requires the foundations of the theory of elasticity to be revisited, as one explores scales at which this theory may no longer hold. The only cases for which a microscopic justi
fication of elasticity exists are (nearly) uniformly strained lattices. A microscopic theory of elasticity, as well as simulations, reveal that standard continuum elasticity applies only at sufficiently large scales (typically 100 particle diameters). Interestingly, force chains, which have been observed in experiments on granular systems, and attributed to non-elastic effects, are shown to exist in systems composed of harmonically interacting constituents. The corresponding stress field, which is a continuum mechanical (averaged) entity, exhibits no chain structures even at near-microscopic resolutions, but it does reflect macroscopic anisotropy, when present.
It has been claimed that quasistatic granular materials, as well as nanoscale materials, exhibit departures from elasticity even at small loadings. It is demonstrated, using 2D and 3D models with interparticle harmonic interactions, that such departu
res are expected at small scales [below O(100) particle diameters], at which continuum elasticity is invalid, and vanish at large scales. The models exhibit force chains on small scales, and force and stress distributions which agree with experimental findings. Effects of anisotropy, disorder and boundary conditions are discussed as well.
