Microstructure in shear band observed by microfocus X-ray computed tomography

It is well known that microstructure in a granular sand changes dramatically while non-elastic deformation accumulates in shear bands. Oda & Kazama (1998), for example, have analysed these changes by means of an optical analysis using a microscope and thin sections. This paper supplements the previous study by further investigating the three-dimensional (3D) microstructure of a shear band by X-ray computed tomography (CT).

Some instruments are now available to investigate the 3D microstructure of fine-grained materials such as Toyoura sand (e.g. Fredrich et al., 1995; Ohtani et al., 2001). X-ray CT is a non-destructive method...