Particle Shape and Dynamics of Granular Matter: Swarming to
Swirling
A. Kudrolli
Clark University
We will discuss a series of experiments performed with granular rods, dimers, and flexible chains on a vibrated plate to illustrate the effect of particle shape on self-organization. A non-spherical shape is shown to lead to not only states which resemble nematic and smectic phases but also causes novel dynamics. The ratchet mechanism which leads to vortex motion in a collection of rods on a vibrated plate and drift motion in a bouncing dimer will be discussed. The friction at the point of contact between particle and the substrate, and the coupling about the center of mass of a non-spherical is proposed to lead to observed motion. Exploiting this mechanism we construct mechanical self-propelled particles (SPP) using rods with asymmetric mass distributions. We then investigate the SSP number fluctuations, flow fields, and orientation order inside a container as a function of number density and excitation, and compare their statistics with recent models of active nematic particles and living cells.