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Densely packed particle raft at vertically vibrated air-water interface

Xiuhe Yan*, Tabitha C. Watson*, and Hongyi Xiao†

  • *These authors contributed equally to the work.
  • †Contact author: hongyix@umich.edu
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Phys. Rev. E 114, 025427 – Published 31 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/95rf-w6fd

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of a dense raft of millimeter-sized granular particles at a vertically vibrated air-water interface, which displays a rich set of patterns and particle dynamics as we vary the vibration amplitude, frequency, and particle packing fraction. While the classical parametric instability with standing waves still occurs over a certain range of parameters, the measured wave dispersion relations indicate an increasing role of the raft's emergent elasticity at higher packing fractions, where the effective surface tension decreases and the out-of-plane bending modulus increases. At higher vibration frequencies and lower amplitudes, we identify a regime without standing waves. Instead, individual particles exhibit thermal-like motion, with transport crossing over from diffusive to subdiffusive as the packing fraction increases. The particle dynamics also display spatial and temporal heterogeneity, as in supercooled liquids. Starting from this regime, when the vibration amplitude is further increased, a large cavity eventually forms inside the raft, whose size and shape depend on the vibration frequency and the injected vibration energy. The cavitation results in the coexistence of free-surface water waves inside the cavity and thermal-like particle motion in the surrounding raft.

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Phys. Rev. E 114, 025427– Published 31 August, 2026
  • Received 19 February 2026
  • Accepted 1 July 2026
Article part of CHORUS
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