Jamming in a Granular Column with Variable Fluid Saturation: From Micro to Macro

Abstract Understanding how porous structures become rigid and retain their strength or fail over variable saturation ranges is crucial for designing materials with targeted performances under various construction conditions. This is especially true in the development of materials with time-dependent viscosities and manipulatable advanced geometamaterials. Modeling unconstrained granular columns from the microscale (granular temperature) to the mesoscale (internal granular force chains and interactions with pore fluid) and accurately predicting the macroscale properties, characteristics, and behaviors are key to the development of a universal picture. Here, we present results of both (a) a phenomenological methodology for extracting key granular and pore fluid structure parameters, using them to define a granular temperature, and (b) a low-dimensional thermostatistical model using that granular temperature that delineates strength and stability for variable fluid saturations.