Jamming by shear

A broad class of disordered materials including foams, glassy molecular systems, colloids and granular materials can form jammed states. A jammed system can resist small stresses without deforming irreversibly, whereas unjammed systems flow under any applied stresses. The broad applicability of the Liu-Nagel jamming concept has attracted intensive theoretical and modelling interest but has prompted less experimental effort. In the Liu-Nagel framework, jammed states of athermal systems exist only above a certain critical density. Although numerical simulations for particles that do not experience friction broadly support this idea, the nature of the jamming transition for frictional grains is less clear. Here we show that jamming of frictional, disk-shaped grains can be induced by the application of shear stress at densities lower than the critical value, at which isotropic (shear-free) jamming occurs. These jammed states have a much richer phenomenology than the isotropic jammed states: for small applied shear stresses, the states are fragile, with a strong force network that percolates only in one direction. A minimum shear stress is needed to create robust, shear-jammed states with a strong force network percolating in all directions. The transitions from unjammed to fragile states and from fragile to shear-jammed states are controlled by the fraction of force-bearing grains. The fractions at which these transitions occur are statistically independent of the density. Jammed states with densities lower than the critical value have an anisotropic fabric (contact network). The minimum anisotropy of shear-jammed states vanishes as the density approaches the critical value from below, in a manner reminiscent of an order-disorder transition.     

Structural signature of jamming in granular media

Glasses are rigid, but flow when the temperature is increased. Similarly, granular materials are rigid, but become unjammed and flow if sufficient shear stress is applied. The rigid and flowing phases are strikingly different, yet measurements reveal that the structures of glass and liquid are virtually indistinguishable. It is therefore natural to ask whether there is a structural signature of the jammed granular state that distinguishes it from its flowing counterpart. Here we find evidence for such a signature, by measuring the contact-force distribution between particles during shearing. Because the forces are sensitive to minute variations in particle position, the distribution of forces can serve as a microscope with which to observe correlations in the positions of nearest neighbours. We find a qualitative change in the force distribution at the onset of jamming. If, as has been proposed, the jamming and glass transitions are related, our observation of a structural signature associated with jamming hints at the existence of a similar structural difference at the glass transition--presumably too subtle for conventional scattering techniques to uncover. Our measurements also provide a determination of a granular temperature that is the counterpart in granular systems to the glass-transition temperature in liquids.     

Dilatant shear bands in solidifying metals

Compacted granular materials expand in response to shear, and can exhibit different behaviour from that of the solids, liquids and gases of which they are composed. Application of the physics of granular materials has increased the understanding of avalanches, geological faults, flow in hoppers and silos, and soil mechanics. During the equiaxed solidification of metallic alloys, there exists a range of solid fractions where the microstructure consists of a geometrically crowded disordered assembly of crystals saturated with liquid. It is therefore natural to ask if such a microstructure deforms as a granular material and what relevance this might have to solidification processing. Here we show that partially solidified alloys can exhibit the characteristics of a cohesionless granular material, including Reynolds' dilatancy and strain localization in dilatant shear bands 7-18 mean crystals wide. We show that this behaviour is important in defect formation during high pressure die casting of Al and Mg alloys, a global industry that contributes over $7.3 billion to the USA's economy alone and is used in the manufacture of products that include mobile-phone covers and steering wheels. More broadly, these findings highlight the potential to apply the principles and modelling approaches developed in granular mechanics to the field of solidification processing, and also indicate the possible benefits that might be gained from exploring and exploiting further synergies between these fields.     

金属玻璃的液态结构及其动力学胶体模拟

研究金属玻璃对于改善性能,开发新的合金体系有重要意义。由于实验手段的局限,目前为止还未能直接观测到液态结构的演化过程。胶体体系可以得到直观可视的粒子图像,已被应用于模拟研究原子体系的物理变化过程。通过不同的胶体体积浓度来模拟金属玻璃熔体,分析了不同胶体液态体系中的团簇结构,并对胶体粒子的扩散规律进行了探讨。结果表明液态体系的浓度越高,粒子的扩散速率越慢,局域特征结构发生变化,并在高浓度液态结构中观察到了结构的局域有序性动力学阻滞形成的笼子效应,为胶体体系液态微结构随浓度的演化提供了直接的实验证据。     

Direct observation of molecular cooperativity near the glass transition

The increasingly sluggish response of a supercooled liquid as it nears its glass transition (for example, refrigerated honey) is prototypical of glassy dynamics found in proteins, neural networks and superconductors. The notion that molecules rearrange cooperatively has long been postulated to explain diverging relaxation times and broadened (non-exponential) response functions near the glass transition. Recently, cooperativity was observed and analysed in colloid glasses and in simulations of binary liquids well above the glass transition. But nanometre-scale studies of cooperativity at the molecular glass transition are lacking. Important issues to be resolved include the precise form of the cooperativity and its length scale, and whether the broadened response is intrinsic to individual cooperative regions, or arises only from heterogeneity in an ensemble of such regions. Here we describe direct observations of molecular cooperativity near the glass transition in polyvinylacetate (PVAc), using nanometre-scale probing of dielectric fluctuations. Molecular clusters switched spontaneously among two to four distinct configurations, producing random telegraph noise. Our analysis of these noise signals and their power spectra reveals that individual clusters exhibit transient dynamical heterogeneity and non-exponential kinetics.     

湿颗粒材料筒仓卸料过程的离散元模拟

为研究含液量较少情况下湿颗粒材料的筒仓卸料过程,采用接触点绑定和自定义本构两种途径模拟液桥力,数值算例分析了含水量对颗粒流动性的影响,并通过提取仓壁底端压力峰值和统计颗粒阻塞概率,对干颗粒和湿颗粒在筒仓卸料过程中宏观特性的不同作了分析。得出仓壁底端压力峰值发生在卸料过程中,干颗粒压力峰值高于湿颗粒;筒仓卸料过程中,粒径均匀分布的颗粒其阻塞概率要大于单一粒径的颗粒,湿颗粒阻塞概率大于干颗粒,液桥力整体上对颗粒流动有阻碍作用。数值算例表明了两种途径在模拟湿颗粒材料流动行为时的有效性和可行性。     

Water Behaviour: glass transition in hyperquenched water?

It has been unclear whether amorphous glassy water heated to around 140-150 K remains glassy until it crystallizes or whether instead it turns into a supercooled and very viscous liquid. Yue and Angell compare the behaviour of glassy water under these conditions to that of hyperquenched inorganic glasses, and claim that water stays glassy as it heats up to its crystallization point; they also find a 'hidden' glass-to-liquid transition at about 169 K. Here we use differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) heating to show that hyperquenched water deposited at 140 K behaves as an ultraviscous liquid, the limiting structure of which depends on the cooling rate--as predicted by theoretical analysis of the liquid-to-glass transition. Our findings are consistent with a glass-to-liquid transition-onset temperature (T(g)) in the region of 136 K (refs 3,4), and they indicate that measurements of the liquid's properties may clarify the anomalous properties of supercooled water.     

The jamming route to the glass state in weakly perturbed granular media

It has been suggested that a common conceptual framework known as 'jamming' (refs 1 and 2) may be used to classify a wide variety of physical systems; these include granular media, colloidal suspensions and glass-forming liquids, all of which display a critical slowdown in their dynamics before a sudden transition to an amorphous rigid state. Decreasing the relevant control parameter (such as temperature, drive or inverse density) may cause geometrical constraints to build up progressively and thus restrict the accessible part of the system's phase space. In glass-forming liquids (thermal molecular systems), jamming is provided by the classical vitrification process of supercooling, characterized by a rapidly increasing and apparently diverging viscosity at sufficiently low temperatures. In driven (athermal) macroscopic systems, a similar slowdown has been predicted to occur, notably in sheared foam or vibrated granular media. Here we report experimental evidence for dynamic behaviour, qualitatively analogous to supercooling, in a driven granular system of macroscopic millimetre-size particles. The granular medium is perturbed by isolated tapping or continuous vibration, with the perturbation intensity serving as a control parameter. We observe the random deflection of an immersed torsion oscillator that moves each time the grains rearrange, like a 'thermometer' sensing the granular noise. We caution that our granular analogy to supercooling is based on similarities in the dynamical behaviour, rather than quantitative theory.     

Some open problems in granular matter mechanics

Granular matter is a large assemblage of solid particles, which is fundamentally different from any other type of matters, such as solid and liquid. Most models presented for granular matter are phenomenological and are only suitable for solving engineering problems. Many fundamental mechanical problems remain open. By analyzing characteristics of internal state structure, we propose that granular matter is intrinsically multiscale, i.e. microscale of particle size, mesoscale of force chain, and macroscale of the bulk of granular matter. The correlations among difference scales would be crucial. The mesoscale force chain network is determined by both particle properties and macroscopic boundary conditions. The evolution of the force the chain network contributes to macroscopic mechanical properties of granular matter. In addition, we discuss the drawbacks in simplifying contact forces in the current models, and the difficulties in analyzing the interaction of interstitial fluid in wet granular matter. As an appropriate application of granular matter, debris flow can be studied with granular matter mechanics; meanwhile, debris flow brings more challenges which certainly motivate future studies on granular matter.     

用扫描式电子显微镜研究原油乳液中水滴

扫描式电子显微镜(ESEM),不必事先准备标本,就可对自然的液态对象成像观察分析.给出了一种研究液态体系结构的有力的可行工具.其分辨力要比传统的光学显微镜高一个数量级.使用该技术可对乳液中水滴的分布形态进行观察和图像分析,微观图像可显示出在不同条件下水滴的各种分布形态和尺寸.观察结果表明在乳液中水相的分布和尺寸,严格地取决于该乳液的稳态和液流学特性.该技术为乳液研究提供了一种新途径.     

Thin films of fullerene-like MoS2 nanoparticles with ultra-low friction and wear

The tribological properties of solid lubricants such as graphite and the metal dichalcogenides MX2 (where M is molybdenum or tungsten and X is sulphur or selenium) are of technological interest for reducing wear in circumstances where liquid lubricants are impractical, such as in space technology, ultra-high vacuum or automotive transport. These materials are characterized by weak interatomic interactions (van der Waals forces) between their layered structures, allowing easy, low-strength shearing. Although these materials exhibit excellent friction and wear resistance and extended lifetime in vacuum, their tribological properties remain poor in the presence of humidity or oxygen, thereby limiting their technological applications in the Earth's atmosphere. But using MX2 in the form of isolated inorganic fullerene-like hollow nanoparticles similar to carbon fullerenes and nanotubes can improve its performance. Here we show that thin films of hollow MoS2 nanoparticles, deposited by a localized high-pressure arc discharge method, exhibit ultra-low friction (an order of magnitude lower than for sputtered MoS2 thin films) and wear in nitrogen and 45% humidity. We attribute this 'dry' behaviour in humid environments to the presence of curved S-Mo-S planes that prevent oxidation and preserve the layered structure.     

基于粒函数的模糊控制系统设计与仿真

模糊控制是基于模糊数学思想和理论建立的控制方法,在控制领域特别适用于一些无法用精确模型进行数学建模的控制系统.但对于模糊控制系统,模糊控制器的运算复杂和由于规则太多引起的规则爆炸问题始终没有很好地解决.通过引入粒函数,简化了模糊控制系统和解决了规则爆炸问题,并且将粒函数方法应用于单容水箱模糊控制系统中进行仿真.实验结果显示,粒函数方法不仅可以简化模糊控制系统的复杂性和解决规则爆炸问题,并且证明在理论和实际中粒函数器完全可以等效模糊控制器.粒函数方法适用于众多模糊控制系统中,通过示例,可以举一反三,将粒函数方法复制到其他应用场合.     

用于油水分离的聚结技术及其进展

对处理油水乳化液聚结分离技术的研究进展进行了综述,包括聚结床类型与材料、聚结的过程以及影响聚结性能的参数。重点介绍了多孔聚结床、颗粒聚结床和纤维聚结床的研究与应用;总结了液滴聚结过程中的接近机理、粘附机理和释放机理;详细叙述了填料表面性质、尺寸和流速、聚结床厚度、表面活性剂及其他因素对聚结性能的影响,指出了研究者对影响参数不一致甚至矛盾的结论。根据其研究状况阐述了存在的问题,其中聚结机理和影响参数需要进一步实验验证,提出了聚结技术未来研究和发展的方向。     

Entanglement of the orbital angular momentum states of photons.

Entangled quantum states are not separable, regardless of the spatial separation of their components. This is a manifestation of an aspect of quantum mechanics known as quantum non-locality. An important consequence of this is that the measurement of the state of one particle in a two-particle entangled state defines the state of the second particle instantaneously, whereas neither particle possesses its own well-defined state before the measurement. Experimental realizations of entanglement have hitherto been restricted to two-state quantum systems, involving, for example, the two orthogonal polarization states of photons. Here we demonstrate entanglement involving the spatial modes of the electromagnetic field carrying orbital angular momentum. As these modes can be used to define an infinitely dimensional discrete Hilbert space, this approach provides a practical route to entanglement that involves many orthogonal quantum states, rather than just two Multi-dimensional entangled states could be of considerable importance in the field of quantum information, enabling, for example, more efficient use of communication channels in quantum cryptography.     

DEM/CFD modelling of the deposition of dilute granular systems in a vertical container

Deposition of granular materials into a container is a general industrial packing process. In this study, the deposition behaviour of dilute granular mixtures consisting of two types of particles that were of the same particle size but different particle densities in the presence of air was numerically analyzed using a coupled discrete element method （DEM） and computational fluid dynamics （CFD）. Bilayer granular mixtures with light particles at bottom and heavy particles at top were first simulated. It was found that the presence of air significantly affected the flow behaviour of the bilayer mixtures. For the system with a relatively low initial void fraction, the air entrapped inside the container escaped through the dilated zones induced due to the friction between the powder bed and wall surfaces. The escaping air streams entrained light particles that were originally located at the bottom of the granular system. Consequently, these light particles were migrated to the top of the granular bed at the end of deposition process. More light particles were migrated when the deposition distance was increased. For the system with a high initial void fraction, some light particles penetrated into the top layer of heavy particles and created a mixing zone. Deposition of random mixtures with different initial void fractions was also investigated and the influence of initial void fraction on the segregation behaviour was explored as well. It was found that the increase of void fraction promoted segregation during the deposition in air. It was demonstrated that, for granular mixtures consisting of particles of different air sensitivities, the presence of air had a significant impact on the mixing and segregation behaviour during the deposition.     

Impact-activated solidification of dense suspensions via dynamic jamming fronts

Although liquids typically flow around intruding objects, a counterintuitive phenomenon occurs in dense suspensions of micrometre-sized particles: they become liquid-like when perturbed lightly, but harden when driven strongly. Rheological experiments have investigated how such thickening arises under shear, and linked it to hydrodynamic interactions or granular dilation. However, neither of these mechanisms alone can explain the ability of suspensions to generate very large, positive normal stresses under impact. To illustrate the phenomenon, such stresses can be large enough to allow a person to run across a suspension without sinking, and far exceed the upper limit observed under shear or extension. Here we show that these stresses originate from an impact-generated solidification front that transforms an initially compressible particle matrix into a rapidly growing jammed region, ultimately leading to extraordinary amounts of momentum absorption. Using high-speed videography, embedded force sensing and X-ray imaging, we capture the detailed dynamics of this process as it decelerates a metal rod hitting a suspension of cornflour (cornstarch) in water. We develop a model for the dynamic solidification and its effect on the surrounding suspension that reproduces the observed behaviour quantitatively. Our findings suggest that prior interpretations of the impact resistance as dominated by shear thickening need to be revisited.