Capillary condensation in wet granular media via meso-scale Monte Carlo simulation

Partially wet granular systems exhibit a wide variety of interesting phenomena. In particular, the wetting of the system yields a complex liquid network that can play a dominant role in mechanical properties. Moreover, the interplay between the liquid network and the solid grains influences the evolution of the system under deformation. A significant challenge for further understanding is a theoretical description of the statistical geometry and resulting mechanics of this liquid network. We present a meso-scale Monte Carlo simulation approach for modeling partially wet granular systems that treats the liquid phase as a lattice fluid, and demonstrate the approach on systems of two and four grains. We examine the geometry of the liquid phase as a function of liquid volume fraction, which can ultimately be used to determine the resulting constitutive properties of the partially wet granular material.