The shear characteristics of gravelly sand significantly influence the stability of slopes and foundation pits. Discrete element numerical simulations were conducted on sand with gravel content ranging from 0% to 25% to investigate their mechanical behavior and pore structure evolution during shearing process from macro-micro per⁃spectives. Results demonstrate that gravelly sand exhibits strain-softening behavior, whereby shear stress first reach⁃es the peak value with incresing displacement and then decreases to the residual strength. The shear strength of pure sand is optimal, decreaseing by 15%-18% when the gravel content increases to 25%. The material exhibits nonlinear strength characteristics under high stress. When the normal pressure increases from 100 kPa to 300 kPa, the maximum shear stress ratio decreases by 16 %, and the internal friction angle declines with the increase of grav⁃el content. Microstructural analysis shows that the increase of gravel content promotes the stress transmission domi⁃nated by coarse particles in the shear band, while the void ratio increases by approximately 30%-60% during shear⁃ing, and the particle rearrangement aggravates the strain softening. This study reveals the macro and microscopic du⁃al regulation mechanism of gravel content on the mechanical properties of sand, which provides a theoretical basis for the stability evaluation of gravelly sand foundations as well as the engineering design of slopes and foundation pits.
图8 法向压力为100 kPa时不同砾石含量砂土剪切面处剪切位移与孔隙比关系曲线Fig.8 Shear displacement versus void ratio at shear plane for sand with different gravel contents under 100 kPa normal pressure