Single-particle crushing behaviour of carbonate sands studied by X-ray microtomography and a combined finite–discrete element method

This paper investigates the particle breakage behaviour of a carbonate sand based on single-particle compression experiments with in situ X-ray microtomography scanning (μCT) and a combined finite–discrete element method (FDEM). Specifically, X-ray μCT is applied to extract the information on grain morphology and intra-particle pores of carbonate sand particles to establish an FDEM model. The model is first calibrated by comparing the simulation results of two carbonate sand grains with the corresponding single-particle compression experiment results and then applied to model the stress evolution, cracking propagation and failure of other carbonate sand particles under single-particle compression. To study the influence of intra-particle pores, FDEM modelling of carbonate sands with completely filled intra-particle pores is also performed. The particle strength of carbonate sands both with and without pore filling is found to follow a Weibull distribution, with that of the sand with pore filling being considerably higher. This behaviour is associated with lower stress concentration, resulting in later crack development in the pore-filled sand than in the sand without pore filling. The cracks are found to usually pass through the intra-particle pores. Consequently, a larger proportion of particles fail in the fragmentation mode in the sand without pore filling.