Protocol dependence for avalanches under constant stress in elastoplastic models.

Abstract

Close to the yielding transition, amorphous solids exhibit a jerky dynamics characterized by plastic avalanches. The statistics of these avalanches have been measured experimentally and numerically using a variety of different triggering protocols, assuming that all of them were equivalent for this purpose. In particular, two main classes of protocols have been studied, deformation under controlled strain or under controlled stress. In this work, we investigate different protocols to generate plasticity avalanches and conduct two-dimensional simulations of an elastoplastic model to examine the protocol dependence of avalanche statistics in yield-stress fluids. We demonstrate that when stress is controlled, the value and even the existence of the exponent governing the probability distribution function of avalanche sizes strongly depend on the protocol chosen to initiate avalanches. This confirms in finite dimension a scenario presented in a previous mean-field analysis. We identify a consistent stress-controlled protocol whose associated avalanches differ from the quasi-static ones in their fractal dimension and dynamical exponent. Remarkably, this protocol also seems to satisfy the scaling relations among exponents previously proposed. Our results underscore the necessity for a cautious interpretation of avalanche universality within elastoplastic models, and more generally within systems where several control parameters exist.