Abstract: Granular material is the main material of embankment dams and is one of the major study objectives of soil mechanics.Tests on granular material were summarized.Some achievements were introduced,in cluding dilitancy and creep property of granular material as well as uncertainty of test results.And the distortion mechanism of general granular material based on the triaxial tests of spherical granules was demonstrated.As a kind of coarse aggregate,it was shown that the arrangement and intergranular action of particles had important impact on the mechanical property of granular material and many problems related to the granular material fabric.The principal achievements of the fabric research of granular material were presented.