Density profiles of loose and collapsed cohesive granular structures generated by ballistic deposition

TL;DR

This study investigates how cohesive forces affect the density profiles and formation process of granular packings created by ballistic deposition, revealing discontinuous compaction and modeling the collapse behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic contact dynamics analysis of cohesive granular structures and develops a model linking Bond number variations to density profile changes.

Findings

Density profiles depend on the granular Bond number.

Compaction occurs via small avalanches with a specific size distribution.

A model explains the final density profiles based on packing collapse dynamics.

Abstract

Loose granular structures stabilized against gravity by an effective cohesive force are investigated on a microscopic basis using contact dynamics. We study the influence of the granular Bond number on the density profiles and the generation process of packings, generated by ballistic deposition under gravity. The internal compaction occurs discontinuously in small avalanches and we study their size distribution. We also develop a model explaining the final density profiles based on insight about the collapse of a packing under changes of the Bond number.