Abstract
Particle size and confining pressure are important factors that influence the shear characteristics of coral sand. In this study, multiple consolidated-drained triaxial shear tests were conducted under varying conditions, to explore the effect of particle size and confining pressure on the shear characteristics of coral sand, in terms of critical confining pressure and shear strength, respectively. Particle survival rates of coral sand under different conditions were compared. It was found that (i) the stress-softening coefficient and dilatancy coefficient had a semilogarithmic linear relationship with effective confining pressure. With an increase in effective confining pressure, the strain-softening and dilatancy of the coral sand weakened gradually. Compared with small-particle coral sand, the strain-softening and dilatancy of large-particle coral sand attenuated at a greater rate, and the mode conversion for deformation curves occurred prior to that for the strength curves. (ii) Under the same relative density, because of differences in the void ratio of coral sand with different particle sizes, the shear strength deviations increased gradually with an increase in effective confining pressure. For this reason, the internal friction angle of coral sand decreased with an increase in particle size, whereas its apparent cohesion presented an opposite trend. (iii) Under the combined action of single-particle crushing strength and particle coordination number, coarse coral sand (D = 1.0–2.0 mm) showed the largest amount of particle breakage.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Laura Kuhar, PhD, from Liwen Bianji (Edanz) (www.liwenbianji.cn), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.
Funding
This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41877271 & 41572297) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nos. XDA13010301 & XDA13010203).
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Highlights
• Shear characteristics of coral sand were investigated.
• Effects of particle size and confining pressure on coral sand deformation were analyzed.
• Effects of particle size and confining pressure on coral sand shear strength were discussed.
• Changes in coral sand particle breakage with particle size and confining pressure were revealed.
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Wang, X., Wang, X., Shen, J. et al. Particle size and confining-pressure effects of shear characteristics of coral sand: an experimental study. Bull Eng Geol Environ 81, 97 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02599-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02599-x