Eur. Phys. J. E 5, 129-131

Giant electrical fluctuations in metallic disordered packings

N. Vandewalle and S. Dorbolo

GRASP, Institut de Physique B5, Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium

nvandewalle@ulg.ac.be

(Received 3 October 2000)

Abstract
We have experimentally studied granular arches through electrical measurements. The packing is composed of 2d metallic pentagons and is submitted to small taps. Large electrical fluctuations are observed and they are distributed along power laws. This indicates the presence of long-time memory effects even the packing density remains constant around a value . Large electrical fluctuations should be associated with the breaking/creation of granular arches.

PACS
45.70.-n - Granular systems.
05.40.-a - Fluctuation phenomena, random processes, noise, and Brownian motion.
81.05.Rm - Porous materials; granular materials.


© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2001