X-ray tomography analysis of particle morphology influence on granular deformation processes
Pinzon, Gustavo 1 ,  2 ; Andò, Edward 3 ; Tengattini, Alessandro 2 ,  4 ,  5 ; Viggiani, Gioacchino 2
1 European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
2 Laboratoire 3SR, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France
3 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL Center for Imaging, Lausanne, Switzerland
4 Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France
5 Institut Universitaire de France, IUF, France
Open Geomechanics, Volume 6 (2025), article no. 2, 14 p.

The interaction between particles in granular materials is largely determined by their shape and interparticle friction. Thus, understanding their combined effects is essential for modelling the mechanical behaviour at the bulk scale. Previous studies have focused on the link between the morphology of the particles and the bulk response of the specimen. The emergence of non destructive full-field techniques, such as x-ray tomography, present a novel opportunity for the detailed quantification of key particle-scale phenomena. This study investigates the impact of inter-particle friction and particle shape on the deformation processes of granular materials through in-operando x-ray tomography. Monodisperse specimens, comprising ellipsoidal particles with a given aspect ratio and interparticle friction coefficients, are here tested under triaxial compression conditions. Three values of aspect ratio and two friction coefficients are explored, yielding in total six specimens. Over 30 scans per test are acquired, every 0.5 % of axial shortening. Each of the more than 20000 individual particles are identified and tracked throughout a test. Strain localisation dominates post-peak stress ratio, forming compressive and dilative zones within the shear band. The results show that higher aspect ratios lead to an increase of volumetric strain, while lower interparticle friction makes the response less dilative. The study of the interplay between particles interlocking and rotation, reveals that particles with a mild degree of anisometry and high friction yield the highest degree of bulk dilatancy, due to a balancing between the interlocking and rotation.

Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published online:
DOI: 10.5802/ogeo.21
Keywords: Strain localisation, X-ray tomography, Particle kinematics, Granular materials
Pinzon, Gustavo  1 , 2 ; Andò, Edward  3 ; Tengattini, Alessandro  2 , 4 , 5 ; Viggiani, Gioacchino  2

License: CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0
Copyrights: The authors retain unrestricted copyrights and publishing rights
@article{OGEO_2025__6__A2_0,
     author = {Pinzon, Gustavo and And\`o, Edward and Tengattini, Alessandro and Viggiani, Gioacchino},
     title = {X-ray tomography analysis of particle morphology influence on granular deformation processes},
     journal = {Open Geomechanics},
     eid = {2},
     pages = {1--14},
     year = {2025},
     publisher = {Alert Geomaterials},
     volume = {6},
     doi = {10.5802/ogeo.21},
     language = {en},
     url = {https://opengeomechanics.centre-mersenne.org/articles/10.5802/ogeo.21/}
}
TY  - JOUR
AU  - Pinzon, Gustavo
AU  - Andò, Edward
AU  - Tengattini, Alessandro
AU  - Viggiani, Gioacchino
TI  - X-ray tomography analysis of particle morphology influence on granular deformation processes
JO  - Open Geomechanics
PY  - 2025
SP  - 1
EP  - 14
VL  - 6
PB  - Alert Geomaterials
UR  - https://opengeomechanics.centre-mersenne.org/articles/10.5802/ogeo.21/
DO  - 10.5802/ogeo.21
LA  - en
ID  - OGEO_2025__6__A2_0
ER  - 
%0 Journal Article
%A Pinzon, Gustavo
%A Andò, Edward
%A Tengattini, Alessandro
%A Viggiani, Gioacchino
%T X-ray tomography analysis of particle morphology influence on granular deformation processes
%J Open Geomechanics
%D 2025
%P 1-14
%V 6
%I Alert Geomaterials
%U https://opengeomechanics.centre-mersenne.org/articles/10.5802/ogeo.21/
%R 10.5802/ogeo.21
%G en
%F OGEO_2025__6__A2_0
Pinzon, Gustavo; Andò, Edward; Tengattini, Alessandro; Viggiani, Gioacchino. X-ray tomography analysis of particle morphology influence on granular deformation processes. Open Geomechanics, Volume 6 (2025), article  no. 2, 14 p.. doi: 10.5802/ogeo.21

[1] Alshibli, Khalid A; Alsaleh, Mustafa I Characterizing surface roughness and shape of sands using digital microscopy, Journal of computing in civil engineering, Volume 18 (2004) no. 1, pp. 36-45 | DOI

[2] Alsaleh, Mustafa I; Alshibli, Khalid A; Voyiadjis, George Z Influence of micromaterial heterogeneity on strain localization in granular materials, International Journal of Geomechanics, Volume 6 (2006) no. 4, pp. 248-259 | DOI

[3] Abbireddy, COR; Clayton, CRI The impact of particle form on the packing and shear behaviour of some granular materials: an experimental study, Granular Matter, Volume 17 (2015), pp. 427-438 | DOI

[4] Andò, Edward; Dijkstra, Jelke; Roubin, Emmanuel; Dano, Christophe; Boller, Elodie A peek into the origin of creep in sand, Granular matter, Volume 21 (2019), pp. 1-8 | DOI

[5] Azéma, Emilien; Estrada, Nicolas; Radjai, Farhang Nonlinear effects of particle shape angularity in sheared granular media, Physical Review E, Volume 86 (2012) no. 4, 041301 | DOI

[6] Antony, SJ; Kruyt, NP Role of interparticle friction and particle-scale elasticity in the shear-strength mechanism of three-dimensional granular media, Physical Review E, Volume 79 (2009) no. 3, 031308 | DOI

[7] Azéma, Emilien; Radjaï, Farhang Stress-strain behavior and geometrical properties of packings of elongated particles, Physical Review E, Volume 81 (2010) no. 5, 051304 | DOI

[8] Azéma, Emilien; Radjai, Farhang; Dubois, Frédéric Packings of irregular polyhedral particles: Strength, structure, and effects of angularity, Physical Review E, Volume 87 (2013) no. 6, 062203 | DOI

[9] Azéma, Emilien; Radjai, Farhang; Peyroux, Robert; Saussine, Gilles Force transmission in a packing of pentagonal particles, Physical Review E, Volume 76 (2007) no. 1, 011301 | DOI

[10] Andò, Edward; Viggiani, Gioacchino On the ease of experimental access to deformation entities in granular assemblies, Ital. Geotech. J, Volume 52 (2018) no. 2, pp. 44-51

[11] Andò, Edward; Viggiani, Gioacchino; Hall, Stephen A; Desrues, Jacques Experimental micro-mechanics of granular media studied by X-ray tomography: recent results and challenges, Géotechnique Letters, Volume 3 (2013) no. 3, pp. 142-146 | DOI

[12] Binaree, Theechalit; Azéma, Emilien; Estrada, Nicolas; Renouf, Mathieu; Preechawuttipong, Itthichai Combined effects of contact friction and particle shape on strength properties and microstructure of sheared granular media, Physical Review E, Volume 102 (2020) no. 2, 022901 | DOI

[13] Bagi, Katalin Stress and strain in granular assemblies, Mech. Mater., Volume 22 (1996) no. 3, pp. 165-177 | DOI

[14] Barreto, Daniel; O’Sullivan, Catherine The influence of inter-particle friction and the intermediate stress ratio on soil response under generalised stress conditions, Granular Matter, Volume 14 (2012), pp. 505-521 | DOI

[15] Casas, Nathalie; Mollon, Guilhem; Daouadji, Ali DEM analyses of cemented granular fault gouges at the onset of seismic sliding: peak strength, development of shear zones and kinematics, Pure and Applied Geophysics, Volume 179 (2022) no. 2, pp. 679-707 | DOI

[16] Cavarretta, I; Rocchi, Irene; Coop, Matthew Richard A new interparticle friction apparatus for granular materials, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Volume 48 (2011) no. 12, pp. 1829-1840 | DOI

[17] Desrues, Jacques; Viggiani, Gioacchino Strain localization in sand: an overview of the experimental results obtained in Grenoble using stereophotogrammetry, Int. J. Numer. Anal. Methods Geomech., Volume 28 (2004) no. 4, pp. 279-321 | DOI

[18] Estrada, Nicolas; Azéma, Emilien; Radjai, Farhang; Taboada, Alfredo Identification of rolling resistance as a shape parameter in sheared granular media, Physical Review E, Volume 84 (2011) no. 1, 011306 | DOI

[19] Hall, Stephen A; Bornert, Michel; Desrues, Jacques; Pannier, Yannick; Lenoir, Nicolas; Viggiani, Gioacchino; Bésuelle, Pierre Discrete and continuum analysis of localised deformation in sand using X-ray μCT and volumetric digital image correlation, Géotechnique, Volume 60 (2010) no. 5, pp. 315-322 | DOI

[20] Kong, Deqiong; Fonseca, Joana On the kinematics of shelly carbonate sand using X-ray micro tomography, Engineering Geology, Volume 261 (2019), 105268

[21] Katainen, Jukka; Paajanen, Matti; Ahtola, Eero; Pore, Viljami; Lahtinen, Jouko Adhesion as an interplay between particle size and surface roughness, Journal of colloid and interface science, Volume 304 (2006) no. 2, pp. 524-529 | DOI

[22] Krumbein, William Christian Measurement and geological significance of shape and roundness of sedimentary particles, Journal of Sedimentary Research, Volume 11 (1941) no. 2, pp. 64-72

[23] Lin, Xiaoshan; Ng, T-T A three-dimensional discrete element model using arrays of ellipsoids, Geotechnique, Volume 47 (1997) no. 2, pp. 319-329 | DOI

[24] Miura, Kinya; Maeda, Kenichi; Furukawa, Minori; Toki, Shosuke Mechanical characteristics of sands with different primary properties, Soils and foundations, Volume 38 (1998) no. 4, pp. 159-172 | DOI

[25] Mirghasemi, AA; Rothenburg, L; Matyas, EL Influence of particle shape on engineering properties of assemblies of two-dimensional polygon-shaped particles, Geotechnique, Volume 52 (2002) no. 3, pp. 209-217 | DOI

[26] Nadler, B; Guillard, F; Einav, I Kinematic model of transient shape-induced anisotropy in dense granular flow, Physical review letters, Volume 120 (2018) no. 19, 198003 | DOI

[27] Oda, Masanobu; Konishi, Junichi; Nemat-Nasser, Siavouche Experimental micromechanical evaluation of strength of granular materials: effects of particle rolling, Mechanics of materials, Volume 1 (1982) no. 4, pp. 269-283

[28] Oda, Masanobu; Nemat-Nasser, Siavouche; Konishi, Junichi Stress-induced anisotropy in granular masses, Soils and foundations, Volume 25 (1985) no. 3, pp. 85-97

[29] Oda, M; Takemura, T; Takahashi, M Microstructure in shear band observed by microfocus X-ray computed tomography, Géotechnique, Volume 54 (2004) no. 8, pp. 539-542 | DOI

[30] Pinzón, Gustavo; Andò, Edward; Tengattini, Alessandro; Viggiani, Gioacchino Experimental investigation of the effects of particle shape and friction on the mechanics of granular media, 2023 (Zenodo dataset available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8014905) | DOI

[31] Pena, AA; Garcia-Rojo, R; Herrmann, Hans Jürgen Influence of particle shape on sheared dense granular media, Granular matter, Volume 9 (2007) no. 3-4, pp. 279-291 | DOI | Zbl

[32] Pinzón, Gustavo Experimental investigation of the effects of particle shape and friction on the mechanics of granular media, Ph. D. Thesis, Université Grenoble Alpes (2023) https://cnrs.hal.science/tel-04202827/

[33] Rorato, Riccardo; Arroyo, M; Gens, A; Andò, Edward; Viggiani, Gioacchino Image-based calibration of rolling resistance in discrete element models of sand, Computers and Geotechnics, Volume 131 (2021), 103929

[34] Rothenburg, Leo; Bathurst, Richard J Numerical simulation of idealized granular assemblies with plane elliptical particles, Computers and geotechnics, Volume 11 (1991) no. 4, pp. 315-329 | DOI

[35] Rothenburg, L; Bathurst, RJ Micromechanical features of granular assemblies with planar elliptical particles, Geotechnique, Volume 42 (1992) no. 1, pp. 79-95 | DOI

[36] Rousé, PC; Fannin, RJ; Shuttle, DA Influence of roundness on the void ratio and strength of uniform sand, Géotechnique, Volume 58 (2008) no. 3, pp. 227-231 | DOI

[37] Stamati, Olga; Andò, Edward; Roubin, Emmanuel; Cailletaud, Rémi; Wiebicke, Max; Pinzón, Gustavo; Couture, Cyrille; Hurley, Ryan C; Caulk, Robert; Caillerie, Denis et al. Spam: software for practical analysis of materials, Journal of Open Source Software, Volume 5 (2020) no. 51, 2286 | DOI

[38] Santamarina, Juan Carlos; Cho, Gye-Chun Soil behaviour: The role of particle shape, Advances in geotechnical engineering: The Skempton conference, Thomas Telford Publishing (2004), pp. 604-617 | DOI

[39] Senetakis, Kostas; Coop, Matthew The development of a new micro-mechanical inter-particle loading apparatus, Geotechnical Testing Journal, Volume 37 (2014) no. 6, pp. 1028-1039 | DOI

[40] Saint-Cyr, Baptiste; Delenne, J-Y; Voivret, Charles; Radjai, Farhang; Sornay, Philippe Rheology of granular materials composed of nonconvex particles, Physical Review E, Volume 84 (2011) no. 4, 041302 | DOI

[41] Salot, Christophe; Gotteland, Philippe; Villard, Pascal Influence of relative density on granular materials behavior: DEM simulations of triaxial tests, Granular matter, Volume 11 (2009) no. 4, pp. 221-236 | DOI | Zbl

[42] Shahin, G; Hurley, RC HP-TACO: A high-pressure triaxial compression apparatus for in situ x-ray measurements in geomaterials, Review of Scientific Instruments, Volume 93 (2022) no. 11, 113907 | DOI

[43] Schanz, T; Vermeer, PA Angles of friction and dilatancy of sand, Géotechnique, Volume 46 (1996) no. 1, pp. 145-151 | DOI

[44] Taboada, Alfredo; Chang, Kuo-Jen; Radjaï, Farhang; Bouchette, Frédéric Rheology, force transmission, and shear instabilities in frictional granular media from biaxial numerical tests using the contact dynamics method, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Volume 110 (2005) no. B9, B09202 | DOI

[45] Tudisco, Erika; Jailin, Clément; Mendoza, Arturo; Tengattini, Alessandro; Andò, E; Hall, Stephen A; Viggiani, Gioacchino; Hild, Francois; Roux, Stéphane An extension of digital volume correlation for multimodality image registration, Measurement Science and Technology, Volume 28 (2017) no. 9, 095401

[46] Ting, John M; Meachum, Larry; Rowell, Jeffrey D Effect of particle shape on the strength and deformation mechanisms of ellipse-shaped granular assemblages, Engineering computations, Volume 12 (1995) no. 2, pp. 99-108 | DOI

[47] Wadell, Hakon Volume, shape, and roundness of rock particles, The Journal of Geology, Volume 40 (1932) no. 5, pp. 443-451 | DOI

[48] Xiao, Yang; Long, Leihang; Matthew Evans, T; Zhou, Hai; Liu, Hanlong; Stuedlein, Armin W Effect of particle shape on stress-dilatancy responses of medium-dense sands, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Volume 145 (2019) no. 2, 04018105

[49] Yuan, Ye; Jiao, Yang; Wang, Yujie; Li, Shuixiang Universality of jammed frictional packing, Physical Review Research, Volume 3 (2021) no. 3, 033084 | DOI

[50] Zhou, Bo; Huang, Runqiu; Wang, Huabin; Wang, Jianfeng DEM investigation of particle anti-rotation effects on the micromechanical response of granular materials, Granular Matter, Volume 15 (2013), pp. 315-326 | DOI

[51] Zingg, Theodor Beitrag zur schotteranalyse, Ph. D. Thesis, ETH Zurich (1935) https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/...

[52] Zhang, Boning; Regueiro, Richard A On large deformation granular strain measures for generating stress–strain relations based upon three-dimensional discrete element simulations, International Journal of Solids and Structures, Volume 66 (2015), pp. 151-170 | DOI

Cited by Sources: