The science of complex materials continues to engage researchers from a vast range of disciplines, including physics, mathematics, computational science, and virtually all domains of engineering.

This volume presents a unique multidisciplinary panorama of the current research in complex materials. The contributions explore an array of problems reflecting recent developments in four main areas: characterization and modeling of disordered packings, micromechanics and continuum theory; discrete element method; statistical mechanics. The common theme is the quest to unravel the connection between the microscopic and macroscopic properties of complex materials.

Contents:

• Foam as Granular Matter (D Weaire et al.)
• Delaunay Simplex Analysis of the Structure of Equal Sized Spheres (A V Anikeenko et al.)
• On Entropic Characterization of Granular Materials (R Blumenfeld)
• Mathematical Modeling of Granular Flow-Slides (I Vardoulakis & S Alevizos)
• The Mechanics of Brittle Granular Materials (I Einav)
• Stranger than Friction: Force Chain Buckling and Its Implications for Constitutive Modelling (A Tordesillas)
• Investigations of Size Effects in Granular Bodies During Plane Strain Compression (J Tejchman & J Górski)
• Granular Flows: Fundamentals and Applications (P W Cleary)
• Fine Tuning DEM Simulations to Perform Virtual Experiments with Three-Dimensional Granular Packings (G W Delaney et al.)
• Fluctuations in Granular Materials (R P Behringer)
• Statistical Mechanics of Dense Granular Media (M Pica Ciamarra et al.)
• Compaction of Granular Systems (P Richard et al.)