Compare mud strength with other flowable substrates

Determine whether mud in the solid–fluid transition regime is substantially weaker than other flowable substrates, particularly dry sand, across naturally occurring conditions.

Background

The paper motivates the need for sensitive characterization tools by noting that commercially available penetrometers designed for sand and soil often cannot resolve the much weaker forces generated by muddy substrates. The authors report preliminary evidence that mud may be weaker than other flowable substrates, but present this as a speculation rather than an established result.