Distinctive features arising in maximally random jammed packings of superballs

Variable-cell method for stress-controlled jamming of athermal, frictionless grains

A method is introduced to simulate jamming of polyhedral grains under controlled stress that incorporates global degrees of freedom through the metric tensor of a periodic cell containing grains. Jamming under hydrostatic (isotropic) stress and athermal conditions leads to a precise definition of the ideal jamming point at zero shear stress. The structures of tetrahedra jammed hydrostatically exhibit less translational order and lower jamming-point density than previously described maximally random jammed hard tetrahedra. Under the same conditions, cubes jam with negligible nematic order. Grains with octahedral symmetry having s>0.5 (where s interpolates from octahedra [s=0] to cubes [s=1]) jam with an abundance of face-face contacts in the absence of nematic order. For sufficiently large face-face contact number, percolating clusters form that span the entire simulation box. The response of hydrostatically jammed tetrahedra and cubes to shear-stress perturbation is also demonstrated with the variable-cell method.

Detailed characterization of rattlers in exactly isostatic, strictly jammed sphere packings

We generate jammed disordered packings of 100≤N≤2000 monodisperse hard spheres in three dimensions whose strictly jammed backbones are demonstrated to be exactly isostatic with unprecedented numerical accuracy. This is accomplished by using the Torquato-Jiao (TJ) packing algorithm as a means of studying the maximally random jammed (MRJ) state. The rattler fraction of these packings converges towards 0.015 in the infinite-system limit, which is markedly lower than previous estimates for the MRJ state using the Lubachevsky-Stillinger protocol. This is because the packings that the TJ algorithm creates are closer to the true MRJ state, as shown using bond-orientational and translational order metrics. The rattler pair correlation statistics exhibit strongly correlated behavior contrary to the conventional understanding that they be randomly (Poisson) distributed. Dynamically interacting "polyrattlers" may be found imprisoned in shared cages as well as interacting through "bottlenecks" in the backbone and these clusters are mainly responsible for the sharp increase in the rattler pair correlation function near contact. We discover the surprising existence of polyrattlers with cluster sizes of up to five rattlers (which is expected to increase with system size) and present a distribution of polyrattler occurrence as a function of cluster size and system size. We also enumerate all of the rattler interaction topologies we observe and present images of several examples, showing that MRJ packings of monodisperse spheres can contain large rattler cages while still obeying the strict jamming criterion. The backbone spheres that encage the rattlers are significantly hypostatic, implying that correspondingly hyperstatic regions must exist elsewhere in these isostatic packings. We also observe that rattlers in hard-sphere packings share an apparent connection with the low-temperature two-level system anomalies that appear in real amorphous insulators and semiconductors.

Granular avalanches in a two-dimensional rotating drum with imposed vertical vibration

We present statistics on granular avalanches in a rotating drum with and without imposed vertical vibration. The experiment consists of a quasi-two-dimensional, vertical drum containing pentagonal particles and rotated at a constant angular velocity. The drum rests on an electromagnetic shaker to allow vibration of the assembly as it rotates. We measure time series of the slope of the interface and find that the critical angle for slope failure θ(c) and the resulting angle of repose θ(r) are broadly distributed with an approximate power-law distribution of avalanches θ(c)-θ(r) for large avalanches. The faceted pentagonal grains used lead to significant interlocking with critical and repose angles (θ(c)≈45° and θ(r)≈39°) larger than experiments using spherical grains, even with vibration, and avalanche magnitudes correlated with the prior build-up and anti-correlated with the prior avalanche. We find that the stability of the assembly increases with small vibrations and is destabilized at vibration amplitudes above a dimensionless acceleration (peak acceleration divided by acceleration due to gravity) of Γ=0.2. We also study history dependence of the avalanches by periodically oscillating the drum to compare the initial avalanche upon reversal of shear to steady-state distributions for avalanches during continuous rotation. We observe history dependence as an initial decrease in critical angle upon reversal of the drum rotation direction, indicating that a texture is induced to resist continued shear such that the surface is weaker to reversals in shear direction. Memory of this history is removed by sufficient external vibration (Γ≥0.8), which leads to compaction and relaxation of the surface layer grains responsible for avalanching dynamics, as initial and steady-state avalanche distributions become indistinguishable.

Packings of irregular polyhedral particles: strength, structure, and effects of angularity

We present a systematic numerical investigation of the shear strength and structure of granular packings composed of irregular polyhedral particles. The angularity of the particles is varied by increasing the number of faces from 8 (octahedronlike shape) to 596. We find that the shear strength increases with angularity up to a maximum value and saturates as the particles become more angular (below 46 faces). At the same time, the packing fraction increases to a peak value but declines for more angular particles. We analyze the connectivity and anisotropy of the microstructure by considering both the contacts and branch vectors joining particle centers. The increase of the shear strength with angularity is shown to be due to a net increase of the fabric and force anisotropies but at higher particle angularity a rapid falloff of the fabric anisotropy is compensated by an increase of force anisotropy, leading thus to the saturation of shear strength.

Organizing principles for dense packings of nonspherical hard particles: not all shapes are created equal

We have recently devised organizing principles to obtain maximally dense packings of the Platonic and Archimedean solids and certain smoothly shaped convex nonspherical particles [Torquato and Jiao, Phys. Rev. E 81, 041310 (2010)]. Here we generalize them in order to guide one to ascertain the densest packings of other convex nonspherical particles as well as concave shapes. Our generalized organizing principles are explicitly stated as four distinct propositions. All of our organizing principles are applied to and tested against the most comprehensive set of both convex and concave particle shapes examined to date, including Catalan solids, prisms, antiprisms, cylinders, dimers of spheres, and various concave polyhedra. We demonstrate that all of the densest known packings associated with this wide spectrum of nonspherical particles are consistent with our propositions. Among other applications, our general organizing principles enable us to construct analytically the densest known packings of certain convex nonspherical particles, including spherocylinders, "lens-shaped" particles, square pyramids, and rhombic pyramids. Moreover, we show how to apply these principles to infer the high-density equilibrium crystalline phases of hard convex and concave particles. We also discuss the unique packing attributes of maximally random jammed packings of nonspherical particles.

Maximally random jammed packings of Platonic solids: hyperuniform long-range correlations and isostaticity

We generate maximally random jammed (MRJ) packings of the four nontiling Platonic solids (tetrahedra, octahedra, dodecahedra, and icosahedra) using the adaptive-shrinking-cell method [S. Torquato and Y. Jiao, Phys. Rev. E 80, 041104 (2009)]. Such packings can be viewed as prototypical glasses in that they are maximally disordered while simultaneously being mechanically rigid. The MRJ packing fractions for tetrahedra, octahedra, dodecahedra, and icosahedra are, respectively, 0.763±0.005, 0.697±0.005, 0.716±0.002, and 0.707±0.002. We find that as the number of facets of the particles increases, the translational order in the packings increases while the orientational order decreases. Moreover, we show that the MRJ packings are hyperuniform (i.e., their infinite-wavelength local-number-density fluctuations vanish) and possess quasi-long-range pair correlations that decay asymptotically with scaling r(-4). This provides further evidence that hyperuniform quasi-long-range correlations are a universal feature of MRJ packings of frictionless particles of general shape. However, unlike MRJ packings of ellipsoids, superballs, and superellipsoids, which are hypostatic, MRJ packings of the nontiling Platonic solids are isostatic. We provide a rationale for the organizing principle that the MRJ packing fractions for nonspherical particles with sufficiently small asphericities exceed the corresponding value for spheres (∼0.64). We also discuss how the shape and symmetry of a polyhedron particle affects its MRJ packing fraction.

Identification of rolling resistance as a shape parameter in sheared granular media

Using contact dynamics simulations, we compare the effect of rolling resistance at the contacts in granular systems composed of disks with the effect of angularity in granular systems composed of regular polygonal particles. In simple shear conditions, we consider four aspects of the mechanical behavior of these systems in the steady state: shear strength, solid fraction, force and fabric anisotropies, and probability distribution of contact forces. Our main finding is that, based on the energy dissipation associated with relative rotation between two particles in contact, the effect of rolling resistance can explicitly be identified with that of the number of sides in a regular polygonal particle. This finding supports the use of rolling resistance as a shape parameter accounting for particle angularity and shows unambiguously that one of the main influencing factors behind the mechanical behavior of granular systems composed of noncircular particles is the partial hindrance of rotations as a result of angular particle shape.

Hyperuniformity, quasi-long-range correlations, and void-space constraints in maximally random jammed particle packings. II. Anisotropy in particle shape

We extend the results from the first part of this series of two papers by examining hyperuniformity in heterogeneous media composed of impenetrable anisotropic inclusions. Specifically, we consider maximally random jammed (MRJ) packings of hard ellipses and superdisks and show that these systems both possess vanishing infinite-wavelength local-volume-fraction fluctuations and quasi-long-range pair correlations scaling as r(-(d+1)) in d Euclidean dimensions. Our results suggest a strong generalization of a conjecture by Torquato and Stillinger [Phys. Rev. E 68, 041113 (2003)], namely, that all strictly jammed saturated packings of hard particles, including those with size and shape distributions, are hyperuniform with signature quasi-long-range correlations. We show that our arguments concerning the constrained distribution of the void space in MRJ packings directly extend to hard-ellipse and superdisk packings, thereby providing a direct structural explanation for the appearance of hyperuniformity and quasi-long-range correlations in these systems. Additionally, we examine general heterogeneous media with anisotropic inclusions and show unexpectedly that one can decorate a periodic point pattern to obtain a hard-particle system that is not hyperuniform with respect to local-volume-fraction fluctuations. This apparent discrepancy can also be rationalized by appealing to the irregular distribution of the void space arising from the anisotropic shapes of the particles. Our work suggests the intriguing possibility that the MRJ states of hard particles share certain universal features independent of the local properties of the packings, including the packing fraction and average contact number per particle.

Hyperuniform long-range correlations are a signature of disordered jammed hard-particle packings

We show that quasi-long-range (QLR) pair correlations that decay asymptotically with scaling r(-(d+1)) in d-dimensional Euclidean space R(d), trademarks of certain quantum systems and cosmological structures, are a universal signature of maximally random jammed (MRJ) hard-particle packings. We introduce a novel hyperuniformity descriptor in MRJ packings by studying local-volume-fraction fluctuations and show that infinite-wavelength fluctuations vanish even for packings with size and shape distributions. Special void statistics induce hyperuniformity and QLR pair correlations.

Phase behavior of colloidal superballs: shape interpolation from spheres to cubes

The phase behavior of hard superballs is examined using molecular dynamics within a deformable periodic simulation box. A superball's interior is defined by the inequality |x|(2q)+|y|(2q)+|z|(2q)≤1 , which provides a versatile family of convex particles (q≥0.5) with cubelike and octahedronlike shapes as well as concave particles (q<0.5) with octahedronlike shapes. Here, we consider the convex case with a deformation parameter q between the sphere point (q=1) and the cube (q=∞). We find that the asphericity plays a significant role in the extent of cubatic ordering of both the liquid and crystal phases. Calculation of the first few virial coefficients shows that superballs that are visually similar to cubes can have low-density equations of state closer to spheres than to cubes. Dense liquids of superballs display cubatic orientational order that extends over several particle lengths only for large q. Along the ordered, high-density equation of state, superballs with 1<q<3 exhibit clear evidence of a phase transition from a crystal state to a state with reduced long-ranged orientational order upon the reduction of density. For q≥3 , long-ranged orientational order persists until the melting transition. The width of the apparent coexistence region between the liquid and ordered, high-density phase decreases with q up to q=4.0. The structures of the high-density phases are examined using certain order parameters, distribution functions, and orientational correlation functions. We also find that a fixed simulation cell induces artificial phase transitions that are out of equilibrium. Current fabrication techniques allow for the synthesis of colloidal superballs and thus the phase behavior of such systems can be investigated experimentally.

Exact constructions of a family of dense periodic packings of tetrahedra

The determination of the densest packings of regular tetrahedra (one of the five Platonic solids) is attracting great attention as evidenced by the rapid pace at which packing records are being broken and the fascinating packing structures that have emerged. Here we provide the most general analytical formulation to date to construct dense periodic packings of tetrahedra with four particles per fundamental cell. This analysis results in six-parameter family of dense tetrahedron packings that includes as special cases recently discovered "dimer" packings of tetrahedra, including the densest known packings with density phi=4000/4671=0.856347... . This study strongly suggests that the latter set of packings are the densest among all packings with a four-particle basis. Whether they are the densest packings of tetrahedra among all packings is an open question, but we offer remarks about this issue. Moreover, we describe a procedure that provides estimates of upper bounds on the maximal density of tetrahedron packings, which could aid in assessing the packing efficiency of candidate dense packings.