Sink vs. tilt penetration into shaken dry granular matter: the role of foundation

Abstract: We study the behavior of cylindrical objects as they sink into a dry granular bed fluidized due to lateral oscillations, in order to shed light on human constructions and other objects. Somewhat unexpectedly, we have found that, within a large range of lateral shaking powers, cylinders with flat bottoms sink vertically, while those with a "foundation" consisting in a shallow ring attached to their bottom, tilt besides sinking. The latter scenario seems to dominate independently from the nature of the foundation when strong enough lateral vibrations are applied. We are able to reproduce the observed behavior by quasi-2D numerical simulations, and the vertical sink dynamics with the help of a Newtonian equation of motion for the intruder.