Stress Wave Anisotropy in Centered Square Highly Nonlinear Granular Systems

Highly ordered, close packed granular systems present a nonlinear dynamic behavior stemming from the Hertzian contact interaction between particles. We investigated the propagation of elastic stress waves in an uncompressed, centered square array of spherical and cylindrical particles. We show, via experiments and numerical simulations, that systematic variations of the mass and stiffness ratios of the spherical and cylindrical particles lead to large variations in the characteristics of the propagating stress wave fronts traveling through the system. The ability to control the stress wave front properties in these granular systems may allow for the development of new wave-tailoring materials including systems capable of redirecting impact energy.