The particle breakage of calcareous sands plays a key role in determining the particle shape and shear strength. This process has been analysed in the current study by employing the ring shear tests on calcareous sands sampled from the South China Sea. In this study, a set of parameters, e.g. roundness and aspect ratio, have been employed to quantify the geometrical properties of calcareous sands pre- and after the breakage. These two parameters have been found to correlate well with the vertical loading stress level, shear strain and shear strength. The particle breakage leads to the change of micro-structure during the shear test, as illustrated by the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images. It is found that during the shearing deformation, particle breakages can effectively reduce, while particle rearrangements can increase the shear strength of the calcareous sands.

钙质砂的颗粒破碎在决定颗粒形状和剪切强度方面起着关键作用。在目前的研究中，通过对从南海取样的钙质砂岩进行环剪试验，对这一过程进行了分析。在这项研究中，一组参数，例如圆度和纵横比，已被用来量化破碎前后钙质砂的几何特性。已经发现这两个参数与垂直加载应力水平、剪切应变和剪切强度有很好的相关性。如扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 图像所示，颗粒破裂导致剪切试验期间微观结构发生变化。发现在剪切变形过程中，颗粒破碎可以有效减少，