Crack formation during drying of a shrinkable porous medium

The drying of shrinkable porous media, like fine-grained soils or packed hydrogels, arises in many environmental and agricultural settings. In many cases, these media abruptly crack while drying, which can be detrimental to applications requiring structural integrity. We perform drying experiments on packings of shrinkable particles to characterize the mechanics underlying crack formation. We find that the interplay between particle shrinkage, capillary cohesion, and adhesion with the substrate yields a rich array of drying behaviors and cracking patterns. Our results could ultimately yield guidelines for the control of crack formation during drying.