Uniaxial compression effects on 2D mixtures of 'hard' and 'soft' cylinders

Abstract

An experimental study of uniaxial compression of a mixture of 'hard' and 'soft' cylinders is made. The macroscopic strain-stress law strongly depends on the geometrical and compositional heterogeneities. Two changes in the behaviour are observed: one is weak, at the percolation threshold, and the other is strong, at the 'rigidity' threshold.