Issue 21, 2014

Random-close packing limits for monodisperse and polydisperse hard spheres

Abstract

We investigate how the densities of inherent structures, which we refer to as the closest jammed configurations, are distributed for packings of 104 frictionless hard spheres. A computational algorithm is introduced to generate closest jammed configurations and determine corresponding densities. Closest jamming densities for monodisperse packings generated with high compression rates using Lubachevsky–Stillinger and force-biased algorithms are distributed in a narrow density range from φ = 0.634–0.636 to φ ≈ 0.64; closest jamming densities for monodisperse packings generated with low compression rates converge to φ ≈ 0.65 and grow rapidly when crystallization starts with very low compression rates. We interpret φ ≈ 0.64 as the random-close packing (RCP) limit and φ ≈ 0.65 as a lower bound of the glass close packing (GCP) limit, whereas φ = 0.634–0.636 is attributed to another characteristic (lowest typical, LT) density φLT. The three characteristic densities φLT, φRCP, and φGCP are determined for polydisperse packings with log-normal sphere radii distributions.

Graphical abstract: Random-close packing limits for monodisperse and polydisperse hard spheres

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Nov 2013
Accepted
28 Feb 2014
First published
03 Mar 2014
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Soft Matter, 2014,10, 3826-3841

Random-close packing limits for monodisperse and polydisperse hard spheres

V. Baranau and U. Tallarek, Soft Matter, 2014, 10, 3826 DOI: 10.1039/C3SM52959B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements