Extremal collision sequences of particles on a line: optimal transmission of kinetic energy

Possibility of the existence of the rogue wave and the super rogue wave in granular matter

By using the traditional perturbation technique, a focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) for the one-dimensional bead chain with the initial prestress is first obtained. The Peregrine soliton, called the rogue wave in the present paper, and the super rogue wave are investigated both numerically and analytically. It is noted that both the rogue wave and the super rogue wave do exist in the one-dimensional bead chain. The solutions from the NLSE can correctly describe the real rogue wave as well as the real super rogue wave in the limiting case of small amplitude. Both the rogue wave and the super rogue wave propagate in the granular bead chain as if they are solitary waves.

Dynamical approach to weakly dissipative granular collisions

Granular systems present surprisingly complicated dynamics. In particular, nonlinear interactions and energy dissipation play important roles in these dynamics. Usually (but admittedly not always), constant coefficients of restitution are introduced phenomenologically to account for energy dissipation when grains collide. The collisions are assumed to be instantaneous and to conserve momentum. Here, we introduce the dissipation through a viscous (velocity-dependent) term in the equations of motion for two colliding grains. Using a first-order approximation, we solve the equations of motion in the low viscosity regime. This approach allows us to calculate the collision time, the final velocity of each grain, and a coefficient of restitution that depends on the relative velocity of the grains. We compare our analytic results with those obtained by numerical integration of the equations of motion and with exact ones obtained by other methods for some geometries.

Pulse propagation in tapered granular chains: an analytic study

We study pulse propagation in one-dimensional tapered chains of spherical granules. Analytic results for the pulse velocity and other pulse features are obtained using a binary collision approximation. Comparisons with numerical results show that the binary collision approximation provides quantitatively accurate analytic results for these chains.

Exciting hard spheres

We investigate the collision cascade that is generated by a single moving particle in a static and homogeneous hard-sphere gas. We argue that the number of moving particles at time t grows as t;{xi} and the number collisions up to time t grows as t;{eta} , with xi=2d(d+2) , eta=2(d+1)(d+2) , and d the spatial dimension. These growth laws are the same as those from a hydrodynamic theory for the shock wave emanating from an explosion. Our predictions are verified by molecular dynamics simulations in d=1 and 2. For a particle incident on a static gas in a half-space, the resulting backsplatter ultimately contains almost all the initial energy.

Experimental evidence of shock mitigation in a Hertzian tapered chain

We present an experimental study of the mechanical impulse propagation through a horizontal alignment of elastic spheres of progressively decreasing diameter phi(n): namely, a tapered chain. Experimentally, the diameters of spheres which interact via the Hertz potential are selected to keep as close as possible to an exponential decrease, phi(n+1) = (1-q)phi(n), where the experimental tapering factor is either q(1) approximately equal to 5.60% or q(2) approximately equal to 8.27%. In agreement with recent numerical results, an impulse initiated in a monodisperse chain (a chain of identical beads) propagates without shape changes and progressively transfers its energy and momentum to a propagating tail when it further travels in a tapered chain. As a result, the front pulse of this wave decreases in amplitude and accelerates. Both effects are satisfactorily described by the hard-sphere approximation, and basically, the shock mitigation is due to partial transmissions, from one bead to the next, of momentum and energy of the front pulse. In addition when small dissipation is included, better agreement with experiments is found. A close analysis of the loading part of the experimental pulses demonstrates that the front wave adopts a self-similar solution as it propagates in the tapered chain. Finally, our results corroborate the capability of these chains to thermalize propagating impulses and thereby act as shock absorbing devices.

Transport properties of dense dissipative hard-sphere fluids for arbitrary energy loss models

The revised Enskog approximation for a fluid of hard spheres which lose energy upon collision is discussed for the case that the energy is lost from the normal component of the velocity at collision but is otherwise arbitrary. Granular fluids with a velocity-dependent coefficient of restitution are an important special case covered by this model. A normal solution to the Enskog equation is developed using the Chapman-Enskog expansion. The lowest order solution describes the general homogeneous cooling state and a generating function formalism is introduced for the determination of the distribution function. The first order solution, evaluated in the lowest Sonine approximation, provides estimates for the transport coefficients for the Navier-Stokes hydrodynamic description. All calculations are performed in an arbitrary number of dimensions.

Simulations of vibrated granular medium with impact-velocity-dependent restitution coefficient

We report numerical simulations of strongly vibrated granular materials designed to mimic recent experiments performed in both the presence and the absence of gravity. The coefficient of restitution used here depends on the impact velocity by taking into account both the viscoelastic and plastic deformations of particles, occurring at low and high velocities, respectively. We show that this model with impact-velocity-dependent restitution coefficient reproduces results that agree with experiments. We measure the scaling exponents of the granular temperature, collision frequency, impulse, and pressure with the vibrating piston velocity as the particle number increases. As the system changes from a homogeneous gas state at low density to a clustered state at high density, these exponents are all found to decrease continuously with increasing particle number. All these results differ significantly from classical inelastic hard sphere kinetic theory and previous simulations, both based on a constant restitution coefficient.