Effect of shape and friction on the packing and flow of granular materials

The packing and flow of aspherical frictional particles are studied using discrete element simulations. Particles are superballs with shape {|x|}^{s}+{|y|}^{s}+{|z|}^{s}=1that varies from sphere (s=2 to cube (s=\ensuremath{\infty}, constructed with an overlapping-sphere model. Both packing fraction, \ensuremath{\phi} and coordination number, z decrease monotonically with microscopic friction \ensuremath{\mu} for all shapes....