CONSTRAINT THRESHOLD
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 645 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
The configuration in space and the instant in time where and when the behavior of a composite system suddenly changes.
P. COUSSOT and J.M. PIAU comment: “When the concentration of particles increases, the median size of the clusters increases and, suddenly, beyond a defined concentration, a global net of interactions appears, which connects the whole sample. This is a percolation phenomenon.
- “The fluid possesses a constraint threshold that represents the minimun constraint that must be applied to break the net and start a flow” (1993, p.1086).
The concept is of great importance for the study of avalanches of snow or mud, heaps of semi-viscous materials, gels, pastes and doughs, etc., where such thresholds can readily be observed.
Constraint thresholds, as a rheological effect seems however to be quite a more general type of phenomenon and be akin to the concepts of catastrophe and bifurcation.
It would be interesting to research possible constraint thresholds in living and social systems.