Understanding the response of granular matter to intrusion of solid objects is key to modelling many aspects of behaviour of granular matter, including plastic flow. Here we report a general model for such a quasistatic process. Using a range of experiments, we first show that the relation between the penetration depth and the force resisting it, transiently nonlinear and then linear, is scalable to a universal form. We show that the gradient of the steady-state part, Kϕ, depends only on the medium’s internal friction angle, ϕ, and that it is nonlinear in μ = tan ϕ, in contrast to an existing conjecture. We further show that the intrusion of any convex solid shape satisfies a modified Archimedes’ law and use this to: relate the zero-depth intercept of the linear part to Kϕ and the intruder’s cross-section; explain the curve’s nonlinear part in terms of the stagnant zone’s development.

We study the resistance force of cylindrical objects penetrating quasi-statically into granular media experimentally and numerically.

In this paper, we study the dynamics of one-dimensional chains composed of elastoplastic beads. Three uniform chains, which were experimentally studied in the existing literature, are taken as benchmark examples for manifesting wave propagation induced by multiple impacts between particles and by multiple-compression process in a single contact point. We perform simulations using an elastoplastic contact model developed recently for the binary contact of a sphere. Numerical results show good agreement with the experimental observations, including the profile and amplitude of the incident and reflected solitary waves, the travel time of the wave propagation, and the high-frequency oscillations residing in the high-amplitude stress wave. Our simulations also show that the multiple-compression process of the contact between particles is responsible for the oscillations residing in the pulse profile.

From geotechnical applications to space exploration, auger drilling is often used as a standard tool for soil sample collection, instrument installation and others. Focusing on granular flow associated with the rotary drilling process, we investigate the performance of auger drilling in terms of sampling efficiency, defined as the mass ratio of the soil sample collected in the coring tube to its total volume at a given penetration depth, by means of experiments, numerical simulations as well as theoretical analysis. The ratio of rotation to penetration speed is found to play a crucial role in the sampling process. A continuum model for the coupled granular flow in both coring and discharging channels is proposed to elucidate the physical mechanism behind the sampling process. Supported by a comparison with experimental results, the continuum model provides a practical way to predict the performance of auger drilling. Further analysis reveals that the drilling process approaches a steady state with constant granular flow speeds in both channels. In the steady state, sampling efficiency decreases linearly with the growth of the rotation to penetration speed ratio, which can be well captured by the analytical solution of the model. The analytical solution also suggests that the sampling efficiency is independent of gravity in the steady state, which has profound implications for extraterrestrial sample collection in future space missions.

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