Percolation transition in the packing of bidispersed particles on curved surfaces

TL;DR

This paper investigates how bidispersed spherical particles pack on curved surfaces, revealing a percolation transition that explains defect structures and packing efficiency variations.

Contribution

It introduces a percolation-based framework to understand defect growth and packing transitions in bidispersed particle packings on curved surfaces.

Findings

Defects form chains that grow and disconnect the neighbor graph.

Packing fraction varies with bidispersity and curvature due to a percolation transition.

Defect structures are analogous to scars in monodispersed packings.

Abstract

We study packings of bidispersed spherical particles on a spherical surface. The presence of curvature necessitates defects even for monodispersed particles; bidispersity either leads to a more disordered packing for nearly equal radii, or a higher fill fraction when the smaller particles are accomodated in the interstices of the larger spheres. Variation in the packing fraction is explained by a percolation transition, as chains of defects or scars previously discovered in the monodispersed case grow and eventually disconnect the neighbor graph.