ePrints@IIScePrints@IISc Home | About | Browse | Latest Additions | Advanced Search | Contact | Help

Voronoi neighbor statistics of homogeneously sheared inelastic hard disks and hard spheres

Kumar, Senthil V and Kumaran, V (2006) Voronoi neighbor statistics of homogeneously sheared inelastic hard disks and hard spheres. In: Physical Review E, 73 . 051305:1-13.

[img] PDF
Voronoi_neighbor_statistics_of_homogeneously_sheared.pdf
Restricted to Registered users only

Download (420kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

In this work we extend our earlier Voronoi neighbor analysis [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 074502 (2005)] to homogeneously sheared inelastic hard-particle structures, the simplest model for rapid granular matter. The pair distribution function is partitioned into the nth neighbor coordination number $(C_n)$, and the nth neighbor position distribution $[f_n(r)]$. The distribution of the number of Voronoi faces $(P_n)$ is also considered since $C_1$ is its mean. We report the Cn and Pn for the homogeneously sheared inelastic hard-disk and hard-sphere structures. These statistics are sensitive to shear ordering transition, the nonequilibrium analogue of the freezing transition. In the near-elastic limit, the sheared fluid statistics approach that of the thermodynamic fluid. On shear ordering, due to the onset of order, the $C_n$ for sheared structures approach that of the thermodynamic solid phase. The suppression of nucleation by the homogeneous shear is evident in these statistics. As inelasticity increases, the shear ordering packing fraction increases. Due to the topological instability of the isotropically perturbed face-centered cubic lattice, polyhedra with faces 12 to 18, with a mean at 14, coexist even in the regular close packed limit for the thermodynamic hard-sphere solid. In shear ordered inelastic hard-sphere structures there is a high incidence of 14-faceted polyhedra and a consequent depletion of polyhedra with faces 12, 13, 15–18, due to the formation of body-centered-tetragonal (bct) structures. These bct structures leave a body-centered-cubic-like signature in the $C_n$ and $P_n$ data. On shear ordering, close-packed layers slide past each other. However, with a velocity-dependent coefficient of restitution, at a critical shear rate these layers get disordered or amorphized. We find that the critical shear rate for amorphization is inversely proportional to the particle diameter, as compared to the inverse square scaling observed in dense colloidal suspensions.

Item Type: Journal Article
Publication: Physical Review E
Publisher: American Physical Society
Additional Information: Copyright of this article belongs to American Physical Society.
Department/Centre: Division of Mechanical Sciences > Chemical Engineering
Date Deposited: 19 Feb 2008
Last Modified: 19 Sep 2010 04:42
URI: http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/12885

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item