Liquification of bulk cargo can sink ships:
granular materials loaded directly into a ship’s hold – can suddenly turn from a solid state into a liquid state…
Solid bulk cargoes are typically “two-phase” materials as they contain water between the solid particles.
As everyone knows, liquification happens during earthquakes
A lot is known about the physics of the liquefaction of granular materials from geotechnical and earthquake engineering. The vigorous shaking of the earth causes pressure in the ground water to increase to such a level that the soil “liquefies”.
There used to be a display at Te Papa that used soap powder and model houses to show how dry liquefaction would happen – you wound a handle which shook the table and all the houses started tilting and sliding into holes.
Does anyone use liquification on purpose? Is that how some pilings are sunk? How else can liquification be exploited (a 3D print medium)?
awgrover 