Capillary Effect on Critical Length of Force Chains in Partially Saturated Granular Materials Within the Pendular Regime

This paper investigates the influence of capillary interaction on critical length of grain columns in partially saturated granular materials at pendular state. When relative rotation between a pair of elliptical particles (2D disks) takes place, the liquid meniscus between the particles is distorted and generates unbalanced capillary forces around the contact, which further induces capillary torque. Both the capillary force and capillary torque …