Particle Breakage Effect on Compression Behavior of Realistic Granular Assembly

Abstract

A numerical investigation of the effect of particle breakage on the one-dimensional compression behavior of a realistic granular assembly was carried out using the discrete-element method. The morphologies of sands were obtained using X-ray microcomputed tomography. Sand assemblies were generated in terms of the statistical distribution of sphericity from real sands. The results of single-particle compression tests showed that particle shape significantly affects crushing strength. Particle breakage had a significant influence on compressive deformation, as demonstrated by comparing breakable assemblies with unbreakable ones. The strong force distribution became broader, and the proportion of weak force increased with particle breakability. Looser samples underwent much more particle breakage than did denser samples. It was found that breakage dissipation was a small fraction of energy input compared with frictional dissipation. An excellent hyperbolic relationship between relative breakage and energy input was found, which was independent of initial void ratio.