Effect of rubber particles on mechanical properties of calcareous sand under large displacement shear

Abstract

To reveal the influence of rubber particles on the mechanical properties of calcareous sand under the large-displacement shear effects of earthquakes and waves, indoor ring shear tests were conducted on rubber particle-calcium sand mixtures. The effects of rubber particle size and content on the mechanical properties of calcareous sand were studied via indoor ring shear test. Then, based on PFC^3D, a numerical model of a ring shear test that can restore the shape of calcareous sand particles is established, and a mesomechanical analysis of mixed sand is carried out. The results showed that the effect of the rubber particle content on the crushing characteristics and strength of calcareous sand was significant and that the effect of the particle size was small. The rubber content causes a gradual decrease in the peak strength and particle crushing rate and increases the deformation stability of the mixed sand. The softening coefficient and relative crushing rate were significantly reduced to 0.01–0.06 and 0.28–1.2%, respectively, at 40% rubber content. The numerical simulations and experimental results were in good agreement. An increase in the rubber content significantly influences chain development, which explains the macroscopic mechanical properties of mixed sand at the fine level.

Keywords:

• Calcareous sand
• rubber particles
• shear strength
• particle breakage rate
• discrete element

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

If someone wants to request the data from this study, please contact the author Tao Li.

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge the funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Nos. 51508556 and 42172319), the National Key Research and Development Program of the 13th Five-Year Plan of China (Project No. 2016YFC080250504), the Fundamental Research Fund for the Central Universities (Project No. 2022YJSLJ15), the Study and Application of 3D Dynamic Control and Construction Technology of Shield Passing Under Concentrated Risk Area (Project No. 201902), and the Yue Qi Young Scholars of China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing (Project No. 00800015Z1166).