Shear shocks in fragile networks.

ABSTRACT: A minimal model for studying the mechanical properties of amorphous solids is a disordered network of point masses connected by unbreakable springs. At a critical value of its mean connectivity, such a network becomes fragile: it undergoes a rigidity transition signaled by a vanishing shear modulus and transverse sound speed. We investigate analytically and numerically the linear and nonlinear visco-elastic response of these fragile solids by probing how shear fronts propagate through them. Our approach, which we tentatively label shear front rheology, provides an alternative route to standard oscillatory rheology. In the linear regime, we observe at late times a diffusive broadening of the fronts controlled by an effective shear viscosity that diverges at the critical point. No matter how

SUBMITTER: Ulrich S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3876272 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature