Mechanical properties of amorphous systems : a computational study

Dense assemblies of granular and colloidal particles and molecules often fall out of thermal equilibrium and freeze in disordered solid-like configurations which lack the periodicity of crystals or the randomness of gases. This lack of spatial symmetries prevents us from understanding their mechanic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shivam, Mahajan
Other Authors: Massimo Pica Ciamarra
Format: Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155680
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:Dense assemblies of granular and colloidal particles and molecules often fall out of thermal equilibrium and freeze in disordered solid-like configurations which lack the periodicity of crystals or the randomness of gases. This lack of spatial symmetries prevents us from understanding their mechanical and transport properties via traditional solid-state theoretical approaches. It makes predicting and rationalizing the properties of these out-of-equilibrium materials a significant challenge. In my thesis, I explore the properties of two such classes of disordered systems: granular systems and glasses. I (i) demonstrate that friction induces a novel unreported phenomenon in granular columns, (ii) rationalize how structural disorder affects the elastic properties of solids, (iii) clarify the physical original of the anomalous vibrational properties of disordered solids.