Quantifying influence of particle morphology during shallow indentation of a granular ensemble

This study investigates the effect of particle shape on mechanical response of granular materials under shallow indentation. Two model materials at the same size but with vastly varying morphologies were used here. The experiments were performed inside an Xray CT system. A Morse theory based segmentation algorithm was employed in the analysis. The kinematics was studied at multiple length scales. The extent and features of the deformation zone, the micromechanical parameters such as coordination number, and the overall load characteristics were all functions of the individual particle morphology.