MAXIMUM ANGLE OF STABILITY IN WET AND DRY SPHERICAL GRANULAR MEDIA

We demonstrate that stability criteria can be used to calculate the ma ximum angle of stability theta(m) of a granular medium composed of sph erical particles in three dimensions and circular disks in two dimensi ons. The predicted angles are in good agreement with the experimental results. Furthermore, we determine the dependence of theta(m) on cohes ive forces, applying the results to wet granular material by calculati ng the dependence of theta(m) on the liquid content of the material. W e have also studied wet granular media experimentally and find good ag reement between the theory and our experimental results.