An experimental study on the influence of particle shape on the mechanical behaviour of granular materials

Abstract

Triaxial monotonic compression experiments were conducted to study the influence of particle shape on the mechanical behaviours using four different shapes of glass beads. Meanwhile, elastic wave measurements were performed throughout the whole loading process. To ensure the particle shape is the only related factor that can affect the mechanical responses of granular materials, the initial packing densities were adjusted to give a similar relative density of around 100%. Stress responses and deformation characteristics of the tested granular materials are discussed, and then the variations of compression (P-) wave and shear (S-) wave velocities are analysed in this contribution.