Shaking a box of sand

¹ Institut für Theoretische Chemie und Molekulare Strukturbiologie, Universität Wien Währingerstraße 17, A-1090 Wien, Austria and The Santa Fe Institute - 1399 Hyde Park Rd., Santa Fe NM 87501, USA
² Service de Physique Théorique (URA 2306 of CNRS.) , CEA Saclay - 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
³ S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD Sector 3 Salt Lake, Calcutta 700098, India and ICTP - Strada Costiera 11, 34100 Trieste, Italy

Corresponding authors: studla@tbi.univie.ac.at luck@spht.saclay.cea.fr anita@boson.bose.res.in

Received: 12 September 2001
Accepted: 18 October 2001

Abstract

We present a simple model of a vibrated box of sand, and discuss its dynamics in terms of two parameters reflecting static and dynamic disorder, respectively. The fluidised, intermediate and frozen (“glassy”) dynamical regimes are extensively probed by analysing the response of the packing fraction to steady, as well as cyclic, shaking, and indicators of the onset of glassy behaviour are analysed. In the “glassy” regime, our model is exactly solvable, and allows for the qualitative description of ageing phenomena in terms of two characteristic lengths; predictions are also made about the influence of grain shape anisotropy on ageing behaviour.