Scaling Law for Cracking in Shrinkable Granular Packings

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-10-2019

Publication Title

Physical Review Letters

Volume

123

Issue

5

First page number:

1

Last page number:

6

Abstract

Hydrated granular packings often crack into discrete clusters of grains when dried. Despite its ubiquity, an accurate prediction of cracking remains elusive. Here, we elucidate the previously overlooked role of individual grain shrinkage—a feature common to many materials—in determining crack patterning using both experiments and simulations. By extending classical Griffith crack theory, we obtain a scaling law that quantifies how cluster size depends on the interplay between grain shrinkage, stiffness, and size—applicable to a diverse array of shrinkable granular packings.

Keywords

Granular packings; Cracking; Grain shrinkage; Granular materials; Elastic forces

Disciplines

Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Physics

Language

English

UNLV article access

Search your library

Share

COinS