Structural, vibrational, mechanical properties of jammed packings of deformable particles
We investigate the structural, vibrational, and mechanical properties
of jammed packings of deformable particles with shape degrees of
freedom in three dimensions (3D). Each 3D deformable particle is
modeled as a surface-triangulated polyhedron, with spherical vertices
whose positions are determined by a shape-energy function with terms
that constrain the particle surface area, volume, and curvature, and
prevent interparticle overlap. We show that jammed packings of
deformable particles without bending energy possess low-frequency,
quartic vibrational modes, whose number decreases with increasing
asphericity and matches the number of missing contacts relative to the
isostatic value. In contrast, jammed packings of deformable particles
with non-zero bending energy are isostatic in 3D, with no quartic
modes. These studies underscore the importance of incorporating
particle deformability and shape change when modeling the properties
of jammed soft materials.