Sheared Amorphous Packings Display Two Separate Particle Transport Mechanisms

TL;DR

This paper reveals a second mesoscopic particle transport mechanism in sheared amorphous packings, distinct from known diffusive displacements, which persists across various conditions and may influence memory effects.

Contribution

It identifies and characterizes a new particle transport mechanism in sheared amorphous materials, expanding understanding beyond traditional diffusive and shear transformation zone models.

Findings

Existence of a second mesoscopic transport mechanism.

The trace of the diffusion tensor matches $D^2_{min}$ after correction.

Mechanism persists across volume fractions and shear reversal.

Abstract

Shearing granular materials induces non-affine displacements. Such non-affine displacements have been studied extensively, and are known to correlate with plasticity and other mechanical features of amorphous packings. A well known example is shear transformation zones as captured by the local deviation from affine deformation, $D^2_{min}$, and their relevance to failure and stress fluctuations. We analyze sheared frictional athermal disk packings and show that there exists at least one additional mesoscopic transport mechanism that superimposes itself on top of local diffusive motion. We evidence this second transport mechanism in a homogeneous system via a diffusion tensor analysis and show that the trace of the diffusion tensor equals the classic $D^2_{min}$ when this second mesoscopic transport is corrected for. The new transport mechanism is consistently observed over a wide range of volume fractions and even for particles with different friction coefficients and is consistently observed also upon shear reversal, hinting at its relevance for memory effects.