Does gravity cause load-bearing bridges in colloidal and granular systems?
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Updated: May 30, 2026

The Preparation of Electrohydrodynamic Bridges from Polar Dielectric Liquids
Published on: September 30, 2014
M C Jenkins1, M D Haw, G C Barker
1SUPA and The School of Physics & Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
We study structures which can bear loads, "bridges", in particulate packings. To investigate the relationship between bridges and gravity, we experimentally determine bridge statistics in colloidal packings. We vary the effective magnitude and direction of gravity, volume fraction, and interactions, and find that the bridge size distributions depend only on the mean number of neighbors. We identify a universal distribution, in agreement with simulation results for granulars, suggesting that applied loads merely exploit preexisting bridges, which are inherent in dense packings.
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