Modeling the influence of particle morphology on the fracture behavior of silica sand using a 3D discrete element method

The constitutive behavior and deformation characteristics of uncemented granular materials are to a large extent derived from the fabric or geometry of the particle structure and the interparticle friction resulting from normal forces acting on particles or groups of particles. Granular materials consist of discrete particles with a fabric (microstructure) that changes under loading. Synchrotron micro-computed tomography (SMT) has emerged as a powerful non-destructive 3D scanning technique to study geomaterials. In this paper, SMT was used to acquire in situ scans of the oedometry test of a column of three silica sand particles. The sand is known as ASTM 20–30 Ottawa sand, and has a grain size between US sieves #20 (0.841 mm) and #30 (0.595 mm). The characteristics and evolution of particle fracture in sand were examined using SMT images, and a 3D discrete element method (DEM) was used to model the fracture behavior of sand particles. It adopts the bonded particle model to generate a crushable agglomerate that consists of a large number of small spherical sub-particles. The agglomerate shape matches the 3D physical shape of the tested sand particles by mapping the particle morphology from the SMT images. The paper investigates and discusses the influence of agglomerate packing (i.e., the number and size distribution of spherical sub-particles that constitute the agglomerate) and agglomerate shape on the fracture behavior of crushable particles.