The sound of avalanches: From a global to a local perspective

Abstract

We present an experimental study aiming to understand the local origin of the acoustic bursts recorded globally during a two-dimensional shear experiment of a granular medium. In order to explain the power-law distribution of energy of these events (also called avalanches), the analysis focuses on their acoustic frequencies. Experiments with single grains have also been performed, trying to separate the contributions related to collision between neighbours from shear movements between grains. Preliminary results indicate that both frictional sliding and collision-like mechanisms are involved in the origin of the acoustic bursts. The evolution of the structure of the medium around a large acoustic burst is analysed both with high resolution and high-speed imaging. The energy of the acoustic bursts seems related to single and well-localised events with very large variations in energy. However, these local reorganisation processes may eventually bring the global relaxation of the system, which is also captured by a force drop in the resistance to shear.