Force networks and the dynamic approach to jamming in sheared granular media

¹  Department of Physics, University of California - Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9530, USA
²  Department of Physics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yale University - New Haven, CT 06520-8284, USA

Received: 25 June 2007
Accepted: 2 October 2007

Abstract

Diverging correlation lengths on either side of the jamming transition are used to formulate a rheological model of granular shear flow, based on the propagation of stress through force chain networks. The model predicts three distinct flow regimes, characterized by the shear rate dependence of the stress tensor, that have been observed in both simulations and experiments. The boundaries separating the flow regimes are quantitatively determined and testable. In the limit of jammed granular solids, the model predicts the observed anomalous scaling of the shear modulus and a new relation for the shear strain at yield.