  This work deals with the effect of the contact location distribution on the
crushing of granular materials. At first, a simple drop weight experiment was
designed in order to study the effect of the location of three contact edges on
the fracture pattern and the strength of a model cylindrical particle. The
sample was placed on two bottom contact edges symmetrically distributed with
reference to the vertical symmetry plane of the particle and subjected to an
impact at the top. Angle $\alpha$ between the plane connecting a bottom contact
edge to the centerline of the cylinder and a vertical plane was varied. The
energy required to fracture the particle was shown to be an increasing function
of angle $\alpha$. Peculiar crack patterns were also observed. Then, we present
a discrete model of grain fracture based on the work of Neveu et al. (2016) and
employ it for a numerical analysis of the problem. The cylindrical particle is
discretized by means of a space filling Vorono\"i tessellation, and submitted
to a compression test for different values of angle $\alpha$. In agreement with
experiments, simulations predict a strong effect of the contact orientation on
the strength of the particle as well as similar fracture patterns. The effect
of the number of contacts is also explored and the importance of a potential
pre-load is emphasized. We show that the fracture pattern: (i) is diametrical
in case of diametrically opposed edges, (ii) has an inverted Y-shape in the
case of three or four edges. Interestingly, in the latter case, if one of the
lateral edges is slightly shifted, the fracture initiates and even propagates
diametrically. Furthermore, the particle strength increases with the number of
contacts.
