The effect of grain crushing on the deformation of sand in 1D compression and 1D creep at high stresses was investigated theoretically and experimentally. An approach was proposed to formulate the process of grain crushing in sand in accordance with the laws of fracture mechanics and energy conservation. With this approach, the relation between the void ratio and the amount of grains crushed in 1D compression was derived. Laboratory test data were used to verify this derived relation. In addition, it was observed that there are similarities in evolution of grain size distribution in 1D compression and 1D creep tests. This implies that the changes in microstructure in sand under 1D compression and 1D creep are comparable.