Random close packing fractions of lognormal distributions of hard spheres

The most efficient way to pack equally sized spheres isotropically in 3D is known as the random close packed state, which provides a starting point for many approximations in physics and engineering. However, the particle size distribution of a real granular material is never monodisperse. Here we present a simple but accurate approximation for the random close packing density of hard spheres of any size distribution, based upon a mapping onto a one-dimensional problem. To te...

We show that an analogy between crowding in fluid and jammed phases of hard spheres captures the density dependence of the kissing number for a family of numerically generated jammed states. We extend this analogy to jams of mixtures of hard spheres in $d=3$ dimensions, and thus obtain an estimate of the random close packing (RCP) volume fraction, $\phi_{\textrm{RCP}}$, as a function of size polydispersity. We first consider mixtures of particle sizes with discrete distributi...

We develop a model to describe the properties of random assemblies of polydisperse hard spheres. We show that the key features to describe the system are (i) the dependence between the free volume of a sphere and the various coordination numbers between the species, and (ii) the dependence of the coordination numbers with the concentration of species; quantities that are calculated analytically. The model predicts the density of random close packing and random loose packing o...

Despite its long history, there are many fundamental issues concerning random packings of spheres that remain elusive, including a precise definition of random close packing (RCP). We argue that the current picture of RCP cannot be made mathematically precise and support this conclusion via a molecular dynamics study of hard spheres using the Lubachevsky-Stillinger compression algorithm. We suggest that this impasse can be broken by introducing the new concept of a maximally ...

The densest amorphous packing of rigid particles is known as random close packing. It has long been appreciated that higher densities are achieved by using collections of particles with a variety of sizes. The variety of sizes is often quantified by the polydispersity of the particle size distribution: the standard deviation of the radius divided by the mean radius. Several prior studies quantified the increase of the packing density as a function of polydispersity. Of course...

Studies of random close packing of spheres have advanced our knowledge about the structure of systems such as liquids, glasses, emulsions, granular media, and amorphous solids. When these systems are confined their structural properties change. To understand these changes we study random close packing in finite-sized confined systems, in both two and three dimensions. Each packing consists of a 50-50 binary mixture with particle size ratio 1.4. The presence of confining walls...

We present a reduced-dimension, ballistic deposition, Monte Carlo particle packing algorithm and discuss its application to the analysis of the microstructure of hard-sphere systems with broad particle size distributions. We extend our earlier approach (the ``central string'' algorithm) to a reduced-dimension, quasi-3D approach. Our results for monomodal hard-sphere packs exhibit a calculated packing fraction that is slightly less than the generally accepted value for a maxim...

Random packings of objects of a particular shape are ubiquitous in science and engineering. However, such jammed matter states have eluded any systematic theoretical treatment due to the strong positional and orientational correlations involved. In recent years progress on a fundamental description of jammed matter could be made by starting from a constant volume ensemble in the spirit of conventional statistical mechanics. Recent work has shown that this approach, first intr...

Sphere packings are essential to the development of physical models for powders, composite materials, and the atomic structure of the liquid state. There is a strong scientific need to be able to assess the fit of packing models to data, but this is complicated by the lack of formal probabilistic models for packings. Without formal models, simulation algorithms and collections of physical objects must be used as models. Identification of common aspects of different realizatio...

We present a theoretical prediction on random close packing factor \phi_RCP^b of binary granular packings based on the hard-sphere fluid theory. An unexplored regime is unravelled, where the packing fraction \phi_RCP^b is smaller than that of the mono-sized one \phi_RCP^m, i.e., the so-called loose jamming state. This is against our common perception that binary packings should always reach a denser packing than mono-sized packings at the jamming state. Numerical evidence fur...