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arXiv · 1109.5167

Onset of Irreversibility in Cyclic Shear of Granular Packings

Steven Slotterback·Mitch Mailman·Krisztian Ronaszegi·Martin van Hecke·Michelle Girvan·Wolfgang Losert
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Abstract

We investigate the onset of irreversibility in a dense granular medium subjected to cyclic shear in a split-bottom geometry. To probe the micro and mesoscale we image bead trajectories in 3D throughout a series of shear strain oscillations. Though beads lose and regain contact with neighbors during a cycle, the topology of the contact network exhibits reversible properties for small oscillation amplitudes. With increasing reversal amplitude a transition to an irreversible diffusive regime occurs.

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Steven Slotterback, Mitch Mailman, Krisztian Ronaszegi, Martin van Hecke, Michelle Girvan, Wolfgang Losert. 2012-01-24. Onset of Irreversibility in Cyclic Shear of Granular Packings. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.85.021309

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