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Tensile Strength of Granular Materials

Nature volume 215, pages 952–953 (1967)Cite this article

Abstract

THE contribution by Carr1 on the tensile strength of granular materials raises two issues of fundamental importance: first, the validity of the equation for tensile strength proposed by Smalley and Smalley2 where B is the interparticle force per contact, D is the diameter of the particles and t is the thickness of the fracture zone; and secondly, the manner in which B varies with the degree of saturation. Equation 1 was derived on the assumption that fracture occurs on a plane normal to the tensile direction and that the particles intersected by this plane come apart without themselves contributing to the strength. For granular materials, where the bonding is provided by the capillary action of water, rupture of the particles is never possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington

    A. G. DOUGLAS

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  1. A. G. DOUGLAS
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DOUGLAS, A. Tensile Strength of Granular Materials. Nature 215, 952–953 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1038/215952a0

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