1. Introduction
Stored bulk solids form a geometrical probability space for the void space distribution which can be analyzed by statistical mechanical considerations and useful results and con- elusions may be obtained on their properties. As explained by Shahinpoor[1] there exists a close link between the random packing and storing of granular materials and bulk solids and the geometrical theory of the structure of fluids. If the bulk solids are stored randomly there is a great tendency for the void spaces to form a uniform distribution and this essentially corresponds to a state of maximum configuration entropy. This randomly packed space will be unstable in the fields of vibration and shear and tends to density. The vibratory densification of stored bulk solids forces the uniform void space distribution to become skewed towards the population of smaller void spaces. We shall elaborate on the above concepts in the present paper and introduce the notion of a critical state for a stored bulk solid. The physical correctness...
■
