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Phase transition in a static granular system

Matthias Schröter, Sibylle Nägle, Charles Radin, Harry L. Swinney

cond-mat.softarXiv:cond-mat/0606459

Abstract

We find that a column of glass beads exhibits a well-defined transition between two phases that differ in their resistance to shear. Pulses of fluidization are used to prepare static states with well-defined particle volume fractions ϕ in the range 0.57-0.63. The resistance to shear is determined by slowly inserting a rod into the column of beads. The transition occurs at ϕ=0.60 for a range of speeds of the rod.

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