Strength of cemented grains

We conducted compaction tests (isotropic drained loading) on randomly packed glass beads that were a) uncemented and b) cemented by epoxy at their contacts. In the latter case, the volume of the epoxy accounted for 10 percent of the pore space. Intensive crushing of grains was observed in the first case at about 50 MPa. In the second case, the cemented grains stayed intact, the failure being localized within the epoxy. Therefore, even small amounts of cement at contacts prevent the failure of grains. Theoretically, this effect follows from our theory of cemented granular materials: stress concentration is high at the contacts of uncemented grains, whereas even small amounts of relatively soft cement result in a more uniform stress distribution over a larger contact area.