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Intruder dynamics in granular media under localized surface loading

E. M. Franklin1,2, B. Darbois Texier1, A. Seguin1, D. D. Carvalho1,2, and Y. Bertho1

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Phys. Rev. E 114, 035408 – Published 3 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/xj4k-m7tw

Abstract

We experimentally investigate the dynamics of a spherical intruder driven horizontally at a constant force in a granular medium subjected to a localized surface overload. While intruder motion beneath a free surface exhibits constant acceleration in the quasistatic regime, the presence of a surface load induces a pronounced transient deceleration when the intruder passes below the loaded region. The magnitude of this deceleration increases with the applied overload and saturates at large overloads, while it decreases with intruder depth. Introducing a characteristic timescale and an overload-based Froude number, we show that the deceleration dynamics collapse onto master curves. We further develop a model incorporating stress transmission from the surface, which partially captures the intruder deceleration. In this approach, this deceleration is shown to depend on two parameters: the overload and the area on which this overload is applied. These results provide a framework to quantify how localized surface stresses influence subsurface intruder dynamics, with implications for locomotion, root growth, and underground transport in granular media.

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Phys. Rev. E 114, 035408– Published 3 September, 2026
  • Received 31 March 2026
  • Accepted 14 August 2026
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