Numerical investigations on breakage behaviour of granular materials under triaxial stresses

The effect of particle breakage and intermediate principal stress ratio on the behaviour of crushable granular assemblies under true triaxial stress conditions is studied using the discrete element method. Numerical results show that the increase of intermediate principal stress ratio b (b = (sigma(2) - sigma(3)) / (sigma(1) - sigma(3))) results in the increase of dilatancy at low confining pressures but the decrease of dilatancy at high confining pressures, which stems from the distinct increasing compaction caused by breakage with b. The influence of b on the evolution of the peak apparent friction angle is also weakened by particle breakage. For low relative breakage, the relationship between the peak apparent friction angle and b is close to the Lade-Duncan failure model, whereas it conforms to the Matsuoka-Nakai failure model for high relative breakage. In addition, the increasing tendency of relative breakage, calculated based on a fractal particle size distribution with the fractal dimension being 2.5, declines with the increasing confining pressure and axial strain, which implies the existence of an ultimate graduation. Finally, the relationship between particle breakage and plastic work is found to conform to a unique hyperbolic correlation regardless of the test conditions.