A constitutive model for brittle granular materials considering the competition between breakage and dilation

Abstract: A constitutive model is presented for brittle granular materials based on a recent reformulation of the breakage mechanics theory. Compared with previous breakage mechanics-based models, the proposed model is improved to capture strain softening towards the critical state following the peak stress observed in dense specimens under shearing, and simultaneous evolution of breakage and dilation. Considering the competition between dilation and particle breakage allows the model to capture breakage-induced reduction in dilatancy and peak strength as confining pressure increases. The influence of the model parameters on the overall material response is described through a detailed calibration procedure based on a benchmark experimental dataset. Comparison of the results of drained triaxial compression experiments on two sands with the predictions of the model indicates that the enriched model successfully captures strain softening in dilatant specimens, the shearing-driven evolution of stress-strain behavior towards the critical state at different confinement levels, the transition from dilatant to compactive volumetric response, and the evolution of particle grading due to distributed breakage events. The proposed framework is capable of qualitatively reproducing the experimentally observed stress-dilatancy-breakage relationship in brittle granular materials in the low pressure regime.