Experiments With Vibration Displacement of Volume-Localized Clusters of a Loose Granular Medium: New Effects

Abstract—The conditions have been experimentally determined for the formation of characteristic volume-localized clusters (in the form of a cone-shaped unconsolidated hill and a quasi-planar structure in the form of a “puddle”) made of loose/granular media. These clusters are resistant to dynamic (vibration) impacts in certain intervals of dynamic parameters, which classify them as examples of the “solid volume” properties of granular media. This analogy with a solid aggregation state is enhanced by demonstrating the possibility of vibration displacement of the indicated types of clusters from loose/granular materials while maintaining spatial shape and volume, although the identified displacement mechanisms differ for each of the two explored types of clusters.