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OBJEVTIVES
To determine the angle of internal friction ( ) for a given cohesion less soil (sand) sample.
INTRODUCTION
The test is carried out on either undisturbed samples or remolded samples. To facilitate the remolding
purpose, a soil sample may be compacted at optimum moisture content in a compaction mold. Then
specimen for the direct shear test could be obtained using the correct cutter provided. Alternatively,
sand sample can be placed in a dry state at a required density, in the assembled shear box.
A normal load is applied to the specimen and the specimen is sheared across the pre-determined
horizontal plane between the two halves of the shear box. Measurements of shear load and shear
displacement are recorded. The test is repeated foe two or more identical specimens under different
normal loads. From the results, the angle of internal friction ( ) can be determined.
THEORY
The general shear strength equation (Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion) in terms of effective stresses is
For cohesion less soil (sand, etc) the effective cohesion (c') is zero and the shear equation reduces to
The direct shear test set up consists of placing a soil sample in a split box having a cross-sectional
area (A) and subjecting the test sample to a vertical normal load (N). Testing proceeds by displacing
the lower half of the split box and measuring the horizontal shear forced (T) transmit through the soil
to the upper portion of the box. Testing continues by displacing the lower box horizontally until the
shear force increases to a maximum value and then decreases or remains essentially constant.
During testing it is often assumed that the sample cross-sectional shear area (A) remains constant.
Therefore, the normal stress 'f on the failure plane may be calculated using
The shear stress () on the shear plane may also be calculate using
The maximum shear stress on the shear plane may be determined using
APPARATUS
PROCEDURE
REFERENCES
1. Principles of Direct Shear Test , Chap 7.4 of Experimental Soil Mechanic Bardet, J. P.,
Experimental Soil Mechanics, 1997, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
2. Detailed description of Direct Shear Test with photos and an example data Engineering
Properties of Soils Based on Laboratory Testing, Experiment 11: Consolidation, Prof.
Krishna Reddy, UIC
3. Direct Shear Test on Wikipedia
4. Civilblog.org
5. Lecture notes