The particle aspect ratio is one of the important indexes to characterize the shape of coarse-grain soil particles. Studying the influence and function of aspect ratio on the shear process of coarse-grain soil is of theoretical significance to the accurate description of shear strength characteristics of coarse-grain soil. In this paper, the variation characteristics of aspect rotation angle, shear band width, spatial position difference (Δ) and coordination number of particles in shear zone were studied by means of visual direct shear test and numerical analysis. The difference of force chain network in the process of strength development of coarse-grain soil with different particle aspect ratio (Se) was revealed at the meso-scale. The results showed that the spatial distribution position of the shear band was different during the shear process, and the larger Se was, the smaller Δ was. The average rotation of long axis of particles in shear zone was larger and decreased gradually on both sides. In addtion, the larger Se was, the smaller the average rotation of long axis of particles was. It indicates that Se affects the density and morphology of strong chain in shear zone. The larger Se is, the denser the contact between particles is, the smaller the gap between particles is, the higher the density of strength chain in shear band is, the better the transmission of force is, the stronger the stability is, and therefore the more stable the structure is, which formed after fracture recombination under the action of external force.