Relying on contact dynamics simulations, we study the statistical distribution of contact forces inside a confined packing of circular rigid disks with solid friction. We find the following: (1) The number of normal and tangential forces lower than their respective mean value decays as a power law. (2) The number of normal and tangential forces higher than their respective mean value decays exponentially. (3) The ratio of friction to normal force is uniformly distributed and is uncorrelated with normal force. (4) When normalized with respect to their mean values, these distributions are independent of sample size and particle size distribution.

• Received 27 March 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.274