Emergence of preferred subnetwork for correlated transport in spatial networks: On the ubiquity of force chains in dense disordered granular materials

TL;DR

This paper investigates how preferred subnetworks, similar to force chains in granular materials, spontaneously emerge in disordered spatial networks, revealing localized fluxes and structural similarities to physical force networks.

Contribution

It demonstrates the spontaneous emergence of preferred subnetworks in disordered spatial networks and links these to force chains in granular materials.

Findings

Preferred subnetworks emerge in Random Geometric Graphs despite disorder.

Localized fluxes can form system-spanning structures from short-range correlations.

Subnetwork features resemble those of force networks in granular assemblies.

Abstract

Stress in dense granular materials and other athermal particle aggregates is transmitted through a visually striking subnetwork of interparticle contacts, the filamentary segments of which are referred to as force chains. The emergence of such preferred subnetwork in structurally disordered media with constituents interacting primarily by physical contact is not fully understood. In this work, we study locally correlated transport in Random Geometric Graphs (RGGs), and show the spontaneous emergence of preferred subnetwork. Our findings reveal that, despite structural disorder, system spanning localization of fluxes transmitted through a spatial network can emerge from short ranged correlations. The spatial and statistical features of the subnetwork are surprisingly similar to the strong force network in simulated grain assemblies, and provides insights on the structure and spatial scale of significance of the force chains.