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We investigate the properties of packings of frictionless non-spherical particles utilizing a dynamic particle expansion technique. We employ superquadric particles (superellipsoids), which allows us to explore how a broad range of particle shapes affect both the macroscopic and the local configurational properties of the system. We smoothly transition from spherical particles possessing only translational degrees of freedom to large aspect ratio non-spherical grains where rotational degrees of freedom are highly important. We demonstrate that the degree of anisotropy and local surface curvature of the particles have a profound effect on their packing properties, determining whether a random or an ordered packing is readily formed.
Delaney et al. (Mon,) studied this question.