Static fatigue of sand particles

Static fatigue is of particular concern when studying the time-dependent mechanical behavior of brittle geomaterials. In this regard, the time-dependent strength behavior of individual particles is essential for understanding the creep behavior of sand. In this study, short-term strength tests and static fatigue tests of individual sand particles subjected to a uniaxial compressive load were carried out using a mini-loading apparatus and modified oedometer frames, respectively. The sand particles in the static fatigue test were loaded in an incremental manner, and the load at each stress level was maintained for a fixed period of time. Scatter of the strength of sand particles was described using the Weibull distribution. Long-term strength from the static fatigue test of individual sand particles is found to be less than the short-term strength.