A monolayer of granular spheres in a cylindrical vial, driven continuously by an orbital shaker and subjected to a symmetric confining centrifugal potential, self-organizes to form a distinctively asymmetric structure which occupies only the rear half-space. It is marked by a sharp leading edge at the potential minimum and a curved rear. The area of the structure obeys a power-law scaling with ...

Dispersing small particles in a liquid can produce surprising behaviors when the solids fraction becomes large: rapid shearing drives these systems out of equilibrium and lead to dramatic increases viscosity (shear-thickening) or even solidification (shear jamming). These phenomena occur above characteristic onset stress are forced into frictional contact. Here we show via simulations how this ...

We consider numerical approximations of a class of abstract nonlinear evolutionary systems arising in the study of quasistatic frictional contact problems for elastic-viscoplastic materials. Both spatially semi-discrete and fully discrete schemes are analyzed with the nite element method employed to discretize the spatial domain. Strong convergence of both approximations is established under mi...

It is generally assumed that fingerprints improve the grip of primates, but the efficiency of their ridging will depend on the type of frictional behaviour the skin exhibits. Ridges would be effective at increasing friction for hard materials, but in a rubbery material they would reduce friction because they would reduce contact area. In this study we investigated the frictional performance of ...

In this paper we define a class of mechanical systems consisting of rigid objects (defined by linear or quadratic surface patches) connected by frictional contact linkages between surfaces. (This class of mechanisms is similar to the Analytical Engine developed by Babbage in 1800s except that we assume frictional surfaces instead of toothed gears.) We prove that a universal Turing Machine (TM) ...

The main design criteria of ballasted railway tracks include rail deflections, rail bending stresses, rail wheel contact stresses, sleeper bending moments and ballast sleeper contact pressures. Numerous criteria have been defined for the design of ballasted railway tracks owing to the various mechanical properties of track components and their complex interaction. Therefore, railway track desig...

Static stiffness is an important indicator of the performance of a rolling guide, having direct influence on the stiffness and precision of computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine tools. After preloading the rolling guide, an outward elastic deformation is generated at the carriage skirt, which leads to a decrease in the static stiffness of the rolling guide. Therefore, there would be rel...

This paper discusses the stability of 2D frictionless grasps and combining stability of frictional and frictionless grasps from the viewpoint of potential energy method. In many works related to the frictionless grasp, each finger is replaced by one directional virtual spring along the normal at the contact point. However, this condition is not accurate, because the frictionless condition does ...

The microstructure investigated in this study was inspired by the anisotropic microornamentation of scales from the ventral body side of the California King Snake (Lampropeltis getula californiae). Frictional properties of snake-inspired microstructured polymer surface (SIMPS) made of epoxy resin were characterised in contact with a smooth glass ball by a microtribometer in two perpendicular di...