Biaxial tests on granular materials and powders

Presentation

The LEM3 laboratory has developed a device to test the behavior of granular materials and powders. It allows studying grain deformation and a granular assembly submitted to an external compression.

The device is made of a main box, which receives the tested material, on which are fixed longitudinal and lateral walls, partly mobile to apply pressure along those two axes. It also comprises a flexible membrane, on which pressure can be applied to increase the applied force intensity.

Competitive advantages

• Biaxial deformations;
• High precision on measurement displacements (of the order of 1/10e of µm);
• Possibility to perform tests on granular materials with fluids.
  

Applications/Markets

• Study of granular materials and powders;
• Natural materials (sand, gravels, clay, corn, coffee): geotechnics, soil mechanics;
• Materials derived from industrial processes (pharmaceutical tablets, steel and glass beads, food pellets): pharmaceutical and food industry.
  

Intellectual property

• Patent FR1161654;
• Collaboration sought: License for industrialization;
• Readiness level: laboratory prototype.
  

Laboratory

Laboratoire d’Etude des Microstructures et de Mécanique des Matériaux (LEM3)