Stress transmission through three-dimensional ordered granular arrays

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2002 Sep;66(3 Pt 1):031304. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.66.031304. Epub 2002 Sep 23.

Abstract

We measure the local contact forces at both the top and bottom boundaries of three-dimensional face-centered-cubic and hexagonal-close-packed granular crystals in response to an external force applied to a small area at the top surface. Depending on the crystal structure, we find markedly different results which can be understood in terms of force balance considerations in the specific geometry of the crystal. Small amounts of disorder are found to create additional structure at both the top and bottom surfaces.