Influence of Pore Water on the Fracture of Silica Sand at Particle Scale

Safi, Mohammad; Alshibli, Khalid A.; Li, Haochen

doi:10.1061/JGGEFK.GTENG-12607

Influence of Pore Water on the Fracture of Silica Sand at Particle Scale

Journal Article · Fri Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1061/JGGEFK.GTENG-12607· OSTI ID:3008929

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Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

The fracture of particles has a significant influence on the engineering behavior of granular materials. There are no reported conclusive answers in the literature to explain the influence of pore water on the fracture of sand, gravel, railroad ballast rock, aggregates, rockfill, and so on. Here, in this paper, two novel techniques were adopted to investigate the influence of pore water on the fracture of natural silica sand at the particle scale. The three-dimensional (3D) synchrotron microcomputed tomography (SMT) imaging technique was used to acquire and analyze multiple 3D images of specimens composed of wetted silica sand that were subjected to confined one-dimensional (1D) compression loading up to the fracture stage. A few representative particles were identified and digitally separated from the liquid water and gas phases. The 3D SMT images offer clear experimental evidence of the phase transition of water from liquid to gas within the opening cracks. In addition, a computational fluid dynamics numerical simulation framework for water flow into an opening crack was adopted and the results show that the fast opening of the crack induced cavitation, water phase transition, and water hammer effects. The results of the numerical simulations agree with the confined 1D compression experiments where the onset of the bubbles (gas phase) within the crack is mainly generated during the secondary cavitation stage, and the generated bubble near the crack mouth opening resulted from the primary cavitation, which was directly caused by the crack expansion. The results reported in this paper present a new cavitation phenomenon that occurs during particle fracture, which offers a physics-based explanation of why water-wetted sand fractures at smaller stresses than dry and can pave the way for more in-depth future studies on the fracture of water-wetted sand.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences Division (CSGB); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0020112; AC02-06CH11357; FG02-94ER14466

OSTI ID:: 3008929

Journal Information:: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Journal Name: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 151; ISSN 1090-0241; ISSN 1943-5606

Publisher:: American Society of Civil EngineersCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Influence of Pore Water on the Fracture of Silica Sand at Particle Scale

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