Invited review: Effect of temperature on a granular pile

Abstract

As a fragile construction, a granular pile is very sensitive to minute external perturbations. In particular, it is now well established that a granular assembly is sensitive to variations of temperature. Such variations can produce localized rearrangements as well as global static avalanches inside a pile. In this review, we sum up the various observations that have been made concerning the effect of temperature on a granular assembly. In particular, we dwell on the way controlled variations of temperature have been employed to generate the compaction of a granular pile. After laying emphasis on the key features of this compaction process, we compare it to the classic vibration-induced compaction. Finally, we also review other \textit{granular systems} in a large sense, from microscopic (jammed multilamellar vesicles) to macroscopic scales (stone heave phenomenon linked to freezing and thawing of soils) for which periodic variations of temperature could play a key role in the dynamics at stake. Received:  10 August 2010;  Accepted:  28 October 2010;  Edited by:  I. Ippolito;  Reviewed by:  A. Coniglio,   Universita di Napoli “Federico II”, Napoli, Italy ; DOI: 10.4279/PIP.020006 Editor's Note: Some figures in this paper are reprinted with permission from Wiley-VCH Verlag, the American Physcal Society, Elsevier and the Nature Publishing Group. Readers may view, browse, and/or download material for temporary copying purposes only, provided these uses are for noncommercial personal purposes. Except as provided by law, this material may not be further reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, adapted, performed, displayed, published, or sold in whole or part, without prior written permission from the abovementioned editorial organizations.