| Summary: | Contact breakage of particles makes a large difference in the strength of coarse-grained soils, and exploring the characteristics within the process of the breakage is of great significance. Ignoring the influence of particle shape, the micromechanism of two spherical particles breaking under normal–tangential contact conditions was investigated theoretically and experimentally. Through theoretical analysis, the breakage form, the shape and size of the conical core, and the relationship between the normal and tangential forces at crushing were predicted. Particle contact tests of two gypsum spheres were carried out, in which the breakage forms, features of the conical cores and the normal and tangential forces at crushing were recorded for comparison with the predicted values. The test results and the theoretical predictions showed good agreement. Both the analysis and test demonstrate that the presence of tangential forces causes the conical core to assume the shape of an oblique cone, and the breakage form to change. Moreover, with increasing normal contact force, the tangential force needed for crushing increases gradually first and then decreases suddenly.
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