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Granular materials

Highly evolved grains

Nature Materials volume 12, pages 287–288 (2013)Cite this article

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By efficiently exploring the huge variety of possible grain shapes, computer algorithms that mimic evolution make possible the design of grains that pack into configurations with the desired mechanical or structural properties.

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Figure 1: Histogram of the elastic moduli of static granular packings composed of grain shapes each made of four identical spheres2.
Figure 2: Examples of mechanically stable packings of hard disks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Applied Physics, and Physics, Yale University, PO Box 208286, New Haven, 06520-8286, Connecticut, USA

    Corey S. O'Hern

  2. Department of Physics and Benjamin Levich Institute, The City College of the City University of New York, New York, New York, 10031, USA

    Mark D. Shattuck

Authors
  1. Corey S. O'Hern
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  2. Mark D. Shattuck
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Correspondence to Corey S. O'Hern.

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O'Hern, C., Shattuck, M. Highly evolved grains. Nature Mater 12, 287–288 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3609

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