Impact of Particle Roughness on Packing

Impact of Particle Roughness on Packing | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Impact of Particle Roughness on Packing Adrien Luyckx, Eric Opsomer This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9354781/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The quest to the control packing fraction has a long pedigree, from early insights into dense sphere packings and their modern proofs to contemporary efforts that extend beyond spheres to frictional, anisotropic, and non convex grains. However, a unifying picture that ties particle roughness across scales to macroscopic packing remains incomplete. We address this gap via Discrete Element Method simulations with a multi sphere representation to quantify particle roughness at three scales: microscopic (surface friction), mesoscopic (furrow depth set by the number of spheres used to approximate a rod), and macroscopic (overall shape: rod, cross and star). After gravity deposition, we measure the pile height, packing fraction, coordination number, and force networks. The results clearly show scale separation. Reducing mesoscopic roughness promotes sliding and compaction, reducing pile height following a linear trend while leaving the coordination numbers and force distributions essentially unchanged. In contrast, macroscopic roughness controls pile architecture: progressing from rods to crosses to stars increases the pile height and alters the coordination numbers and the tails of force distributions. We propose a compact semi empirical framework that links the packing fraction to the three roughness scales. Simulation Non convex Packing Roughness Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9354781","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":619527020,"identity":"435f38e8-8167-41ae-8fef-e86102212f3d","order_by":0,"name":"Adrien Luyckx","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNoYEhgNAOgGImRkYKhhk2EDCjA24tfCjajnDwENQi2RDApiGaGFsY+BhIKTF4HjuwwMfdzAkGNxIfmzMO+8wDx97+8UHjDtscGs589zg4MwzIC1pxokztx3mYeM5U2zAeCYNt5YbaQyHedtAWnKYD3wEaZHISZNgbDuMU4s9SMtfmJbEOUAt8m/SfzC2/cdvCyNUS8LHBpAt7MeA4XAAj1+eMRzsbZNIkDzzzNhwxrF0oF9ymCUSzyTj1nI8jfnDzzaber7jyY+leWqs5eTbjz/88HGHHU4tUCDBwCCQAOPwGDAk4FaKBPjhrmd/QJSGUTAKRsEoGDEAAJxlWVVywqx0AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"University of Liège","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Adrien","middleName":"","lastName":"Luyckx","suffix":""},{"id":619527021,"identity":"09c86414-110a-4a42-a5dd-1b128f745ceb","order_by":1,"name":"Eric Opsomer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Liège","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Eric","middleName":"","lastName":"Opsomer","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-08 09:41:41","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9354781/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9354781/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106473765,"identity":"4f0dc0cd-4657-4c86-b863-1d57bad06462","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-09 02:34:48","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":6735550,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"RoughnessRodCrossStarGranularMatter.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9354781/v1_covered_b70e73e9-3c3b-4322-82c1-2cf7bae96646.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Impact of Particle Roughness on Packing","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Simulation, Non convex, Packing, Roughness","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9354781/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9354781/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe quest to the control packing fraction has a long pedigree, from early insights into dense sphere packings and their modern proofs to contemporary efforts that extend beyond spheres to frictional, anisotropic, and non convex grains. 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