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  • Featured in Physics
  • Open Access

Mechanical Properties of Acoustically Levitated Granular Rafts

Melody X. Lim1,2,*, Bryan VanSaders1, Anton Souslov1,3, and Heinrich M. Jaeger1,2

  • 1James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom

  • *mxlim@uchicago.edu
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Phys. Rev. X 12, 021017 – Published 22 April, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.12.021017

Abstract

We investigate a model system for the rotational dynamics of inertial many-particle clustering, in which submillimeter objects are acoustically levitated in air. Driven by scattered sound, levitated grains self-assemble into a monolayer of particles, forming mesoscopic granular rafts with both an acoustic binding energy and a bending rigidity. Detuning the acoustic trap can give rise to stochastic forces and torques that impart angular momentum to levitated objects. As the angular momentum of a quasi-two-dimensional granular raft is increased, the raft deforms from a disk to an ellipse, eventually pinching off into multiple separate rafts, in a mechanism that resembles the breakup of a liquid drop. We extract the raft effective surface tension and elastic modulus and show that nonpairwise acoustic forces give rise to effective elastic moduli that scale with the raft size. We also show that the raft size controls the microstructural basis of plastic deformation, resulting in a transition from fracture to ductile failure.

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Focus

Floating Particle Clump Mimics Asteroids and Nuclei

Published 22 April, 2022

A disk of plastic particles levitated by sound waves could provide a model for other examples of particle clumps in the physical world.

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Popular Summary

Many physical systems are composed of rapidly spinning objects, from rotating black holes to self-gravitating asteroids. The stability and shape of these rotating systems is determined by a balance between attractive forces, which bind the material together, and outward pressure from the rotation. Rotating liquid droplets are often used as experimental and mathematical models, with surface tension playing the role of the attractive force. Still, even in tiny liquid droplets, the number of molecules is so large that internal restructuring under rotation is difficult to assess. To probe the limit where individual constituents in a rapidly rotating system can be tracked with precision, we acoustically levitate a granular material.

When particles are levitated, sound scattering generates attractive forces that organize the granular material into a tightly packed single layer of submillimeter-sized particles. This levitated “raft” has an overall surface-tension-like cohesion. The acoustic trap also increases the rate of rotation of levitated objects, driving transitions in the shape of the rafts and their eventual breakup. Increasing the number of particles in a raft from 10 to 200, we find a crossover from soft solid to liquidlike behavior. In contrast to liquids, however, the effective surface tension and bulk modulus of acoustically levitated rafts increase with their size, similar to the attractive forces in spinning objects held together by gravitational forces.

These results provide insight into the emergence of liquidlike behavior in clusters of cohesive particles and might even open the door toward the systematic study of “tabletop asteroids.”

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. X 12, 021017– Published 22 April, 2022
  • Received 17 June 2021
  • Revised 14 February 2022
  • Accepted 4 March 2022
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