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Quasi-periodic collective displacements of grains at the free surface of a tilted grain packing constitute precursors of granular avalanches. Laboratory experiments are commonly performed by slowly tilting the packing from 0° to the maximal stability angle \theta_A. In these conditions, the number of precursors is too small to assess reproducible and robust statistical analyses of the precursor activity. To go beyond this limitation, we have developed a specific experimental protocol consisting of tilting the packing with successive oscillation cycles. We use a high-resolution optical camera and process the images of the packing free surface to identify precursory events during many consecutive cycles of a single packing. We observe the same behavior for all half-cycles, forth and back: appearance of the first precursors after the same variation of inclination, exponential evolution of the weak surface activity for the first precursors and linear growth of stronger surface activity for the following ones. The experimental protocol provides both reproducible precursor measurements based on large sample statistical inferences and a quasi-stationary state after one full-cycle. This approach is very promising for highlighting the effects of external parameters, including humidity and packing geometry.


Powders &amp; Grains 2021

Robust experimental study of avalanche precursory events based on reproducible cycles of grain packing destabilizations

## Dr. Nishikant (Nish) Sonwalkar: Academician, Scientist, Musician

![](https://assets.underline.io/uploads/markdown_image/1/image/0f9b63a0b3deba4a355d98e2c87af68a.png)

Dr. Sonwalkar is regarded as a leading expert in the application of computers in education. He has extensive research and development experience in hypermedia authoring, mobile learning, adaptive learning, and brain-based synaptic learning, advanced scientific visualization, database management systems, and computer simulation.

After receiving doctoral degree from MIT in the area of Molecular Dynamics of Nano-interfaces, he joined MIT as faculty in Mechanical Engineering, but his passion for technology enabled education led him become the founding director of Hypermedia Teaching Facility (Hypermedia Lab) at MIT and later he was appointed as the Principal Educational Architect of MIT.

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NISH 2021

technical paper

[EPJ Web of Conferences, Volume 249 (2021)](https://www.epj-conferences.org/articles/epjconf/abs/2021/03/contents/contents.html)

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Powders & Grains 2021

Powders & Grains 2021 will be held in Buenos Aires (Argentina, VIRTUAL) July 5, 13, 21, 29 and Aug 6, 2021. The aim of the conference is to give an up-to-date picture of the broad research field of granular media, powders and grains. Contributions from experts around the world will focus on research topics that cover a wide range of open problems in the field.

We study the evolution of shear bands in granular media subjected to very large deformations using the orthogonal cutting geometry. We perform our cutting experiments on Cauvery Delta sand with d50 of 0.45mm. We also capture images of the cutting process which allows us to perform a PIV analysis to determine the deformation in material around the cutting tool. In our experiments we observe that the dynamic angle of repose of the pile that forms in-front of the tool as cutting progresses, approaches the critical state friction angle of the material. We observe a flow bifurcation around the tool as the material begins to slip along planes which are oriented at an angle of π/4 − θ/2, θ being the dynamic angle of repose, to the cutting direction. This leads to formation of shear bands/velocity jumps which contain around 14 particles. A measurement of dilation angle within the shear bands indicate that material is in a critical state of deformation.

An experimental study on shear bands in sand using the orthogonal cutting setup

Particle Size Distribution (PSD) is one of the prime guiding factors of granular media response. Degradation via weathering is a process, which brings about a gradual shift in the PSD. In nature, chemically sensitive material like calcite undergoes chemo-mechanical degradation bringing about variations in their behaviour. In the present study, an experimental investigation is carried out to get insight into the mechanical response during the coupled chemo-mechanical process. The experiments were carried out at two different rates of dissolutions in a custom made 1D compression mould. From the experiments, it is clear that the higher rate of dissolution reduces the lateral earth pressure more than the lower rate. Discrete Element Method (DEM) analyses the micromechanical process behind the observed response from experiments. The results showed a reduction in lateral stress as soon as the dissolution starts. DEM analysis confirms the competing mechanism between grain size reduction and grain rearrangement as the guiding element for the granular media response.

Exploring chemo-mechanics of granular material using DEM

This study aims to assess and analyse the patterns of segregation and stratification in pouring heaps of granular mixtures composed by binary sized and uniformly shaped particles. We present 2D and 3D simulations which respectively build deposits of poured disks and spheres by means of a discrete-element approach known as contact dynamics (CD). In order to identify preferable conditions for segregation and stratification, we try several deposition scenarios varying the pouring flow rate, injection height, heap’s width and mass ratio between large and small grains in our binary samples. Although some authors assert that shape dispersity might not be necessary to obtain stratification, the phenomenon seems hard to seize with mono-shaped granular media as it appears to require a close control on pouring conditions. The introduction of our DEM models and statistical analysis intend to provide examples of what could constitute efficient numerical tools to study the remaining open problems related to heap segregation patterns prediction.

DEM modeling of segregation and stratification in pouring heaps of bidispersed mixtures of rounded particles

In this work, we explore the influence of the grain size distribution (GSD) on density, connectivity and internal forces distributions, for both 2D and 3D granular packings built mechanically. For power law GSDs, we show that there is an exponent for which density and connectivity are optimized, and this exponent is close to those that characterize other well known GSDs such as the Fuller and Thompson distribution and the Appollonian packing. In addition, we studied the distributions of normal forces, finding that these can be well described by a power-law tail, specially for the GSDs with large size span. These results highlight the role of the GSD on internal structure and suggest important consequences on macroscopic properties.

Optimal packing in 2D and 3D granular systems: density, connectivity, and force distributions

Using a numerical approach based on the coupling of the discrete and finite element methods, we explore the variation of the bulk modulus K of soft particle assemblies undergoing isotropic compression. As the assemblies densify under pressure-controlled boundary conditions, we show that the non-linearities of K rapidly deviate from predictions standing on a small-strain framework or the, so-called, Equivalent Medium Theory (EMT). Using the granular stress tensor and extracting the bulk properties of single representative grains under compression, we propose a model to predict the evolution of K as a function of the sample’s solid fraction and a reference state as the applied pressure P-> 0. The model closely reproduces the trends observed in our numerical experiments confirming the behavior scalability of soft particle assemblies from the individual particle scale. Finally, we present the effect of the interparticle friction on K’s evolution and how our model easily adapts to such a mechanical constraint.

Bulk modulus of soft particle assemblies under compression

We investigate the dynamics of regolith on rubble-pile asteroids to explain granular processes observed in reality. In particular, we explain how the appearance of boulders on the surface of asteroid Itokawa could have resulted from a size sorting process in granular media called the Brazil Nut Effect (BNE). The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is implemented to perform numerical simulations of the BNE in a micro-gravity environment caused by inter-particle collisions during seismic vibrations. Firstly, we present the results of how the BNE depends on the magnitude of surface gravity. It is estimated that segregation processes on Itokawa occur over much longer time-scales (in the order of a few hundred years) than the same processes would require in the presence of a strong gravitational field, like on Earth. Secondly, we also find that the size sorting could also result from kinetic sieving encountered during granular avalanches. Finally, we discuss how the void-filling mechanism becomes more efficient when there is a higher relative size difference between the boulders and the surrounding grains. Our model has important implications in understanding the resurfacing of Itokawa by trying to explain one of the many complex geophysical processes that occur in such unique conditions.

Granular segregation on the rubble-pile asteroid Itokawa

Granular gases are interesting multiparticle systems which, irrespective of the apparent simplicity of particle interactions, exhibit a rich scenario of so far only little understood features. 
We have numerically investigated a dense granular gas composed of frictional spherocylinders which are excited mechanically by lateral vibrating container walls. This study was stimulated by experiments in microgravity on parabolic flights. The formation of spatial inhomogeneities (clusters) was observed in a region near the corners of the container, about halfway from the excitation plates. The particles in the clusters show a tendency to align parallel to the container walls, seemingly increasing the stabilizing effect of friction. The simulation results provide hints that the phase difference of the vibrations of the two excitation walls might affect the cluster dynamics.

Cluster dynamics in dense granular gases of rod-like particles

A numerical model able to simulate the grain breakage with the discrete element method, using the "Non-Smooth Contact Dynamics" is presented. The model reproduces 3D grains having complex shapes and is tested in single grain and in oedometric compressions. Numerical simulations are then carried out to evaluate the different energies active during breakage (surface creation and redistribution energies). The surface creation energy is estimated. Results are closed to the ones found in the literature.

Oedometric compression of a granular material: computation of energies involved during breakage with a discrete element modelling

A very staggering result that has been constantly highlighted in granular media is that the shear strength of granular assemblies is independent of the particle size dispersity. In other words, a packing com- posed of monodisperse particles has similar strength properties to those of polydisperse systems. This has been shown numerically for the simplified case of disc and polygon assemblies in 2D and spheres in 3D. In this pa- per, we use three-dimensional contact dynamics simulations to revisit these results for the more complex case of assemblies composed of highly polydisperse rigid polyhedra. Although non-spherical shapes induce more intricated spatial correlations than spherical shapes because of the multiple contact types (i.e., vertex-face, edge- edge, edge-face, face-face), our numerical data provide evidence that the shear strength independence as the particle size dispersity increases still holds up for assemblies of polyhedra. We explain this finding from com- pensation mechanisms at the micro-scale between geometrical and mechanical anisotropies developed within the assemblies.

Independence of shear strength with particle size dispersity still valid in polyhedral particle assemblies

This work aims to investigate the eect of fines in dierent type of bi-disperse grain size distributions in terms of minimum/maximum density, compressibility and crushing. The material adopted is the Light Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA), an artificial granular material characterized by light, porous and crushable grains. The bi-disperse grading are firstly analysed in terms of packing density, measuring experimentally the minimum and the maximum porosity for dierent combination of sizes and volume proportions. Then, some selected mixtures are subjected to one-dimensional compression tests up to high pressures. Evolution of grain size due to grain crushing phenomena and compressibility are therefore measured and interpreted. Finally a theoretical model is adopted in order to predict the mechanical material response accounting grain crushing and granular microstructure.

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