Exploring the micromechanical behaviour of sand-rubber mixtures using X-ray micro-tomography

Abstract

The micromechanical behaviour of sand-rubber mixtures (SRMs) under monotonic triaxial shear were investigated using X-ray micro-tomography. The localisation of sand particle rotations that occurred in a pure sand sample under shear was inhibited in the sand mixed with 30% rubber grains by mass. Meanwhile, the SRMs exhibited an evolution of sand-sand contact coordination number that is not negatively correlated with sample porosity, dramatically different from that was observed in pure sands. Substantially increasing anisotropy degree of sand-rubber contacts compared with minor changes of sandsand contact fabric was observed, implying the increasingly important role of sand-rubber contacts in the transmission of deviatoric loads as the shear of SRMs progressed.