Granular impact dynamics: Fluctuations at short time-scales

Abstract

Several recent studies on granular impact have used a macroscopic force law which describes the slow (mean) dynamics. However, these force-law models must be modified to capture large fluctuations at short time-scales. Here, we discuss granular impact experiments using photoelastic particles, where high-speed video captures both the intruder dynamics and the local granular force response. We show how to systematically separate the fluctuations from the mean dynamics. We also show that these fluctuations are multiplicative with the mean force, and otherwise decoupled from the dynamics. These observations are instructive in connecting to microscopic processes which generate the fluctuations.