Rate-dependent drag instability in granular materials

Abstract

We investigate the conditions leading to large drag force fluctuations in granular materials. The study is based on a set of experimental drag tests, which involve pulling a plate vertically through a cohesionless granular material. In agreement with previous observations, drag force exhibits significant and sudden dropsup to 60%-when the plate is pulled out at low velocities. We further find that this instability vanishes at higher pullout velocities and near the surface. We empirically characterise the frequency and amplitude of these fluctuations and find that these properties are not consistent with a classical stick-slip dynamics. We therefore propose an alternative physical mechanism that can explain these force fluctuations.

Mobility in immersed granular materials upon cyclic loading

“…We conducted the cyclic uplift tests using the experimental setup presented in Figure 1a. This setup was previously used in Refs [23,32] to measure drag forces in dry or immersed granular materials. It comprises a container filled with glass beads, in which a circular diskshaped plate is embedded at designated depth H. The plate has a circular cross-section of diameter B = 40 mm and is 4 mm thick.…”