Macro-Micro Mechanical Behavior of Crushable Granular Materials under Generalized Stress Conditions

This paper investigated the joint influence of particle crushing and intermediate principal stress coefficient on the macro and micro performances of granular assembles by using 3D discrete element method. The soil particle was modeled by crushable agglomerate. Numerical true triaxial tests with crushable agglomerates were performed. The mechanical behaviors of specimens with unbreakable agglomerates were also tested in this study. The results demonstrated that grain breakage can significantly affect the behaviors of granular soils in both macro and micro scales. Moreover, the present paper also showed that particle breakage did not influence the unique relationship between the intermediate principal stress coefficient b and the deviatoric fabric of strong contacts. This can provide a good basis for developing micro-parameter-based constitutive model considering particle breakage for granular soils.