rearrange to balance force and torque autonomously until they jam
under their own weight. This allows the jammed granular aggregate
to adapt and accommodate
significant
changes in mechanical load
without compromising its integrity.1
The vein-like, highly interconnected network of stress paths
inside
a
granular pile demonstrates the origin of this adaptivity: any
local rupture in one of the links can easily be taken up by forming
new connections that reroute forces through neighbours. Particles
throughout the material then rearrange until all movement is arrested.
The extreme disorder and heterogeneity that characterises
a
jammed
material at the local scale thus provides an important
benefit,
namely
the ability to rapidly
reconfigure
and self-heal.
The absence of cohesive bonds between particles also implies
that jamming is fully reversible. Jammed granular structures that
are quickly and easily deployed, starting by simply pouring the
material, come apart equally easily when unjammed. This provides
opportunities for creating rigid yet non-permanent structures whose
elements can be recycled completely and reused.
Aleatory Architectures
Cohesionless granular materials that are widely available as bulk
commodities, such as sand or gravel, offer only
a
limited range of
options ...
