Sink versus tilt penetration into shaken dry granular matter: The role of the foundation

Abstract

We study the behavior of cylindrical objects as they sink into a drygranular bed fluidized due to lateral oscillations. Somewhat unexpectedly, we have found that, within a large range of lateral shaking powers,cylinders with flat bottoms sink vertically, while those with a''foundation'' consisting in ashallow ring attached to their bottom, tilt besides sinking. Thelatter scenario seems to dominate independently from the nature ofthe foundation when strong enough lateral vibrations are applied. Weare able to explain the observed behavior by quasi-2D numericalsimulations, which also demonstrate the influence of the intruder's aspect ratio. The vertical sink dynamics is explained with the help of a Newtonian equation of motion for the intruder. Our findings may shed light on the behavior of buildings and other man-made constructions during earthquakes.