Role of a Structural Channel on Avalanche Dynamics Under Quasistatic Shear*

We investigate the complex avalanche dynamics of athermal, amorphous particle packings subject to quasistatic shear. While elastoplastic models (EPMs) have been successful in replicating the qualitative features of plastic activity in sheared granular systems, it has been shown that the chaotic avalanches in these simplified models do not display the same spatial correlations seen in molecular dynamics simulations and are in a different universality class. Based on the success of utilizing the static structure to identify regions likely to undergo plastic rearrangements (termed soft spots) in granular systems, the Structuro-Elasto-Plasticity Model (StEP) was recently developed to include a separate structural channel for the likelihood of rearrangement. We investigate the advantage of this elastoplastic model, not only regarding the rearrangement statistics, but the avalanche dynamics as well.