Statistical Mechanics of Stress Transmission in Disordered Granular Arrays

Abstract

We give a statistical-mechanical theory of stress transmission in disordered\narrays of rigid grains with perfect friction. Starting from the equations of\nmicroscopic force and torque balance we derive the fundamental equations of\nstress equilibrium. We illustrate the validity of our approach by solving the\nstress distribution of a homogeneous and isotropic array.\n