Mechanical properties of amorphous systems : a computational study

• Main Author: Shivam, Mahajan
• Other Authors: Massimo Pica Ciamarra
• Format: Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Science::Physics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155680
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

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.