Granular intrusions, such as dynamic impact or wheel locomotion, are complex multiphase phenomena where the grains exhibit solid-like and fluid-like characteristics together with an ejected gas-like phase. Despite decades of modeling efforts, a unified description of the physics in such intrusions is as yet unknown. Here we show that a continuum model based on the simple notions of frictional flow and tension-free separation describes complex granular intrusions near free surfaces. This model captures dynamics in a variety of experiments including wheel locomotion, plate intrusions, and running legged robots. The model reveals that three effects (a static contribution and two dynamic ones) primarily give rise to intrusion forces in such scenarios. Identification of these effects enables the development of a further reduced-order technique (Dynamic Resistive Force Theory) for rapid modeling of granular locomotion of arbitrarily shaped intruders. The continuum-motivated strategy we propose for identifying physical mechanisms and corresponding reduced-order relations has potential use for a variety of other materials.
The drag force exerted on an object intruding into granular media can depend on the object's velocity as well as the depth penetrated. We report on intrusion experiments at constant speed over four orders in magnitude together with systematic molecular dynamics simulations well beyond the quasi-static regime. We find that velocity dependence crosses over to depth dependence at a characteristic time after initial impact. This crossover time scale, which depends on penetration speed, depth, gravity and intruder geometry, challenges current models that assume additive contributions to the drag.
Granular intrusion is commonly observed in natural and human-made settings. Unlike typical solids and fluids, granular media can simultaneously display fluid-like and solid-like characteristics in a variety of intrusion scenarios. This multi-phase behavior increases the difficulty of accurately modeling these and other yielding (or flowable) materials. Micro-scale modeling methods, such as DEM (Discrete Element Method), capture this behavior by modeling the media at the grain scale, but there is often interest in the macro-scale characterizations of such systems. We examine the efficacy of a m…
We experimentally study intrusion into fluid-saturated granular beds by a free-falling sphere, varying particle size and fluid viscosity. We test our results against Darcy-Reynolds theory, where the deceleration of the sphere is controlled by Reynolds dilatancy and the Darcy flow resistance. We find the observed intruder dynamics are consistent with Darcy-Reynolds theory for varied particle size. We also find that our experimental results for varied viscosity are consistent with Darcy-Reynolds theory, but only for a limited range of the viscosity. For large viscosities, observed forces begin t…
Characterizing forces on deformable objects intruding into sand and soil requires understanding the solid and fluid-like responses of such substrates and their effect on the state of the object. The most detailed studies of intrusion in dry granular media have revealed that interactions of fixed-shape objects during free impact (e.g. cannonballs) and forced slow penetration can be described by hydrostatic and hydrodynamic-like forces. Here we investigate a new class of granular interactions: rapid intrusions by objects that change shape (self-deform) through passive and active means. Systemati…
We report on experimentally measured drag force experienced by a solid cylinder penetrating a granular bed of glass beads including, specifically, a highly polydisperse sample with grain sizes in the range 1-100 μm. We consider both cases of lateral and axial intrusion in which the long axis of the cylinder is held horizontally and vertically, respectively. We explore different regimes of behavior for the drag force as a function of the penetration depth. In lateral intrusion, where the motion is effectively quasi-two-dimensional, we establish quantitative comparisons with existing theoretical…
Soft materials often display complex behaviors that transition through apparent solid- and fluid-like regimes. While a growing number of microscale simulation methods exist for these materials, reduced-order models that encapsulate the global-scale physics are often desired to predict how external bodies interact with soft media, as occurs in diverse situations from impact and penetration problems to locomotion over natural terrains. This work proposes a systematic program to develop three-dimensional reduced-order models for soft materials from a fundamental basis using continuum symmetries a…
Granular media (GM) present locomotor challenges for terrestrial and extraterrestrial devices because they can flow and solidify in response to localized intrusion of wheels, limbs, and bodies. While the development of airplanes and submarines is aided by understanding of hydrodynamics, fundamental theory does not yet exist to describe the complex interactions of locomotors with GM. In this paper, we use experimental, computational, and theoretical approaches to develop a terramechanics for bio-inspired locomotion in granular environments. We use a fluidized bed to prepare GM with a desired gl…
Granular impact -- the dynamic intrusion of solid objects into granular media -- is widespread across scientific and engineering applications including geotechnics. Existing approaches for simulating granular impact dynamics have relied on either a pure discrete method or a pure continuum method. Neither of these methods, however, is deemed optimal from the computational perspective. Here, we introduce a hybrid continuum-discrete approach, built on the coupled material-point and discrete-element method (MP-DEM), for simulating granular impact dynamics with unparalleled efficiency. To accommoda…
We consider the penetration dynamics of a vertical cylinder into a dry granular medium subjected to successive impacts. The depth of the impactor below the free surface $z_N$ first evolves linearly with the impact number $N$ and then follows a power-law evolution $z_N \propto N^{1/3}$. The depth reached by the cylinder after a given number of impacts is observed to increase with the impact energy but to decrease with its diameter and the density of the granular medium. We develop a model that accounts for the quasi-static and inertial granular forces applying on the cylinder to rationalize our…
We derive a general dimensionless form for granular locomotion, which is validated in experiments and Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations. The form instructs how to scale size, mass, and driving parameters in order to relate dynamic behaviors of different locomotors in the same granular media. The scaling can be derived by assuming intrusion forces arise from Resistive Force Theory (RFT) or equivalently by assuming the granular material behaves as a continuum obeying a frictional yield criterion. The scalings are experimentally confirmed using pairs of wheels of various shapes and sizes …
The theories of aero- and hydrodynamics predict animal movement and device design in air and water through the computation of lift, drag, and thrust forces. Although models of terrestrial legged locomotion have focused on interactions with solid ground, many animals move on substrates that flow in response to intrusion. However, locomotor-ground interaction models on such flowable ground are often unavailable. We developed a force model for arbitrarily-shaped legs and bodies moving freely in granular media, and used this "terradynamics" to predict a small legged robot's locomotion on granular …
The interaction of intruding objects with deformable materials is a common phenomenon, arising in impact and penetration problems, animal and vehicle locomotion, and various geo-space applications. The dynamics of arbitrary intruders can be simplified using Resistive Force Theory (RFT), an empirical framework originally used for fluids but works surprisingly well, better in fact, in granular materials. That such a simple model describes behavior in dry grains, a complex nonlinear material, has invigorated a search to determine the underlying mechanism of RFT. We have discovered that a straight…
Ductile compaction is common in many natural systems, but the temporal evolution of such systems is rarely studied. We observe surprising oscillations in the weight measured at the bottom of a self-compacting ensemble of ductile grains. The oscillations develop during the first ten hours of the experiment, and usually persist through the length of an experiment (one week). The weight oscillations are connected to the grain--wall contacts, and are directly correlated with the observed strain evolution and the dynamics of grain--wall contacts during the compaction. Here, we present the experimen…
Granular systems present surprisingly complicated dynamics. In particular, nonlinear interactions and energy dissipation play important roles in these dynamics. Usually, constant coefficients of restitution are introduced phenomenologically to account for energy dissipation when grains collide. The collisions are assumed to be instantaneous and to conserve momentum. Here, we improve on this phenomenology by introducing the dissipation through a viscous (velocity dependent) term in the equations of motion for two colliding grains. Using a first order approximation, we solve the equations of mot…
Compared to agile legged animals, wheeled and tracked vehicles often suffer large performance loss on granular surfaces like sand and gravel. Understanding the mechanics of legged locomotion on granular media can aid the development of legged robots with improved mobility on granular surfaces; however, no general force model yet exists for granular media to predict ground reaction forces during complex limb intrusions. Inspired by a recent study of sand-swimming, we develop a resistive force model in the vertical plane for legged locomotion on granular media. We divide an intruder of complex m…
The role of forcing on the dynamics of a vertically shaken granular monolayer is investigated. Using a flat plate, surprising negative velocity correlations are measured. A mechanism for this anti-correlation is proposed with support from both experimental results and molecular dynamics simulations. Using a rough plate, velocity correlations are positive, and the velocity distribution evolves from a gaussian at very low densities to a broader distribution at high densities. These results are interpreted as a balance between stochastic forcing, interparticle collisions, and friction with the pl…
We experimentally study the detachment of drops of granular suspensions using a density matched model suspension with varying volume fraction (ϕ = 15% to 55%) and grain diameter (d = 20 μm to 140 μm). We show that at the beginning of the detachment process, the suspensions behave as an effective fluid. The detachment dynamics in this regime can be entirely described by the shear viscosity of the suspension. At later stages of the detachment the dynamics become independent of the volume fraction and are found to be identical to the dynamics of the interstitial fluid. Surprisingly, visual observ…
A loosely packed bed of sand sits precariously on the fence between mechanically stable and flowing states. This has especially strong implications for animals or vehicles needing to navigate sandy environments, which can sink and become stuck in a "dry quicksand" if their weight exceeds the yield stress of this fragile matter. While it is known that the contact stresses in these systems are loaded by gravity, very little is known about the sinking dynamics of objects into loose granular systems under gravitational accelerations different from the Earth's (g). A fundamental understanding of ho…
