Advances in Computed Tomography for Geomaterials: GeoX 2010

3D Characterization of Particle Interaction Using Synchrotron Microtomography

K. A. Alshibli¹ — A. Hasan²

¹ Dept. of Civil & Env. EngineeringLouisiana State Univ.-Southern UnivBaton Rouge, LA [e-mail]

 

² Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueDomain Universitaire38041 Grenoble Cedex [e-mail]

ABSTRACT. Granular particles experience sliding and rolling as they are sheared. X-ray Synchrotron Microtomographic (SMT) was used to acquire 3D scans of a triaxial specimen of sand at eight axial strain levels. The specimen measures 9.5 mm in diameter and 20 mm in height. Several particles within and outside the shear band were identified and tracked as shearing progressed. The analysis reveals that sliding of particles within the shear band is much more significant than particles outside the shear band. Particles within the shear band continue to rotate throughout the experiment while particles outside the shear band exhibit insignificant rotation.

 

KEYWORDS: sand, triaxial, computed tomography

1. Introduction

The mechanical behavior of granular materials is highly dependent on the arrangement of particles, particle groups and associated pore space. These geometric properties comprise the so-called structure or fabric of a material. The literature lacks three-dimensional (3D) experimental measurements of fabric changes of sheared granular materials at the particle level. As a result, many researchers used the Discrete Element Method (DEM) to ...