Numerical study on the compaction of soft sphere packings
Résumé
The compaction behavior of deformable grain packings beyond jamming is a process widely
investigated because of its great industrial and engineering significance, yet it remains
misunderstood. Many numerical and experimental approaches have enabled the exploration
of the physics of deformable granular media and the definition of some theoretical models
with reliable predictions for the relations between pressure and density. However, these
models have some limitations such as the use of nonphysical parameters, the lack of accuracy
at extreme pressures, and the missing physical derivation of the compaction equations. We
study the compaction behavior of soft sphere packings beyond the jammed state by numerical
simulations (see Fig. 1) using the non-smooth contact dynamic method. The results
show that the evolution of packing fraction - as a function of the applied pressure - is well
described using only micromechanical parameters. This is obtained based on the stress tensor,
together with the limit too small deformation of the particles' strain. Our work also suggests
that it is possible to extrapolate the compaction behavior of an elementary Voronoi cell that
contains a single particle to the packing scale.