The packing of granular polymer chains

Details The packing of granular polymer chains The packing of granular polymer chains

2009-11-11

arxiv.org/abs/0911.2259v1

Science 326, 408-410 (2009)

Physics

Condensed Matter

Soft Condensed Matter

11 pages, 4 figures

Scientific paper

10.1126/science.1177114

Rigid particles pack into structures, such as sand dunes on the beach, whose overall stability is determined by the average number of contacts between particles. However, when packing spatially extended objects with flexible shapes, additional concepts must be invoked to understand the stability of the resulting structure. Here we study the disordered packing of chains constructed out of flexibly-connected hard spheres. Using X-ray tomography, we find long chains pack into a low-density structure whose mechanical rigidity is mainly provided by the backbone. On compaction, randomly-oriented, semi-rigid loops form along the chain, and the packing of chains can be understood as the jamming of these elements. Finally we uncover close similarities between the packing of chains and the glass transition in polymers.

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