Tunable entanglement and strength with engineered staple-like particles: Experiments and discrete element models

Entangled matter displays unusual and attractive properties and mechanisms: tensile strength, capabilities for assembly and disassembly, damage tolerance. While some of the attributes and mechanisms share some traits with traditional granular materials, fewer studies have focused on entanglement and strength and there are large gaps in our understanding of the mechanics of these materials. In this report we focus on the tensile properties and mechanics of bundles made of staple-like particles, and particularly on the effect of adjusting the angle between the legs and the crown in individual staples. Our experiments, combined with discrete element models, show competing mechanisms between entanglement strength and geometric engagement between particles, giving rise to an optimum crown-leg angle that maximizes strength. We also show that tensile forces are transmitted by a small fraction of the staples, which is organized in only 1–3 force chains. The formation and breakage of these chains is highly dynamic: as force chains break, they are replaced by fresh ones which were previously mechanically invisible. Entangled matter offers interesting perspectives in terms of materials design which can lead to unusual combination of properties: simultaneous strength and toughness, controlled assembly and disassembly, re-conformability, recyclability.