Macroscale signatures of crushing from resonant column tests

¹ Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47906, USA
² Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 1 December 2025

Abstract

The resonant column apparatus has been widely used to measure the dynamic properties of particulate geomaterials, and to describe their variation as a function of confining stress and strain. This study explores the use of resonant column testing to detect signatures of crushing from measurements of the shear modulus (G) and damping ratio (D) through testing of a highly crushable model granular material. As values of G and D measured at small strains are highly sensitive to the nature and distribution of the contacts and the interparticle forces, their measurement provides the means to assess the effects of particle breakage on the fabric. The paper discusses various testing protocols that can be employed to capture the occurrence of crushing resulting from isotropic compression and/or torsional vibrations, leveraging recent developments in resonant column testing that allow analysis of off-resonance data.