This volume features 29 invited papers presented at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 1-2 July 2008 by colleagues, collaborators, students and friends of Professor J. Michael Rotter (FREng, FRSE, FICE, FASCE, FIStructE, FIEAust) in honour of his 60th birthday.The articles published in this volume will be of great value to readers as it contains con

Provides the state-of-the-art of the physics of granular media for graduate students and researchers in physics, applied mathematics and engineering.

Explaining the science contained in a simple assembly of grains—the most abundant form of matter present on Earth. Granular media—composed of vast amounts of grains, consolidated or not—constitute the most abundant form of solid matter on Earth. Granular materials assemble in disordered configurations scientists often liken to a bag of marbles. Made of macroscopic particles rather than molecules, they defy the standard scheme of classification in terms of solid, liquid, and gas. Granular materials provide a model relevant to various domains of research, including engineering, physics, and biology. William Blake famously wished “To See a World in a Grain of Sand”; in this book, pioneering researchers in granular matter explain the science hidden behind simple grains, shedding light on collective behavior in disordered settings in general. The authors begin by describing the single grain with its different origins, shapes, and sizes, then examine grains in piled or stacked form. They explain the packing fraction of granular media, a crucial issue that bears on the properties displayed in practical applications; explore small-scale deformations in piles of disordered grains, with particular attention to friction; and present theories of various modes of disorder. Along the way, they discuss such concepts as force chains, arching effects, wet grains, sticky contacts, and inertial effects. Drawing on recent numerical simulations as well as classical concepts developed in physics and mechanics, the book offers an accessible introduction to a rapidly developing field.

Nearly all solids are compised of grains. However most studies treat materials as a continious solid. The book applies analysis used on loose granular materials to dense grainular materials. This title’s main focus is devoted to static or dynamic loadings applied to dense materials, although rapid flows and widely dispersed media are also mentioned briefly. Three essential areas are covered: Local variable analysis: Contact forces, displacements and rotations, orientation of contacting particles and fabric tensors are all examples of local variables. Their statistical distributions, such as spatial distribution and possible localization, are analyzed, taking into account experimental results or numerical simulations. Change of scales procedures: Also known as “homogenization techniques”, these procedures make it possible to construct continuum laws to be used in a continuum mechanics approach or performing smaller scale analyses. Numerical modeling: Several methods designed to calculate approximate solutions of dynamical equations together with unilateral contact and frictional laws are presented, including molecular dynamics, the distinct element method and non-smooth contact dynamics. Numerical examples are given and the quality of numerical approximations is discussed.

Focussing on the basic mechanics and underlying physics of granular material, Mechanics of Granular Matter starts with an introduction to contact mechanics of individual particles before moving on to a discussion of the structure of force chain networks and the influence on bulk mechanical properties of granular solids and granular flows. Furthermore, a preliminary multi scale framework is proposed for the nonlinear mechanics and strain localization in granular materials.

"Granular Gases" are diluted many-particle systems in which the mean free path of the particles is much larger than the typical particle size, and where particle collisions occur dissipatively. The dissipation of kinetic energy can lead to effects such as the formation of clusters, anomalous diffusion and characteristic shock waves to name but a few. The book is organized as follows: Part I comprises the rigorous theoretical results for the dilute limit. The detailed properties of binary collisions are described in Part II. Part III contains experimental investigations of granular gases. Large-scale behaviour as found in astrophysical systems is discussed in Part IV. Part V, finally, deals with possible generalizations for dense granular systems.

The science of complex materials continues to engage researchers from a vast range of disciplines, including physics, mathematics, computational science, and virtually all domains of engineering.This volume presents a unique multidisciplinary panorama of the current research in complex materials. The contributions explore an array of problems reflecting recent developments in four main areas: characterization and modeling of disordered packings, micromechanics and continuum theory; discrete element method; statistical mechanics. The common theme is the quest to unravel the connection between the microscopic and macroscopic properties of complex materials.