Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
)
2004 Millpress, Rotterdam, ISBN 90 5966 009 9
Keywords: field vane test, clay, equipment, vane size, disturbance, shear strength, fibre effect
ABSTRACT: The field vane test is commonly used for determination of undrained shear strength in fine-grained
soils throughout the world and the test has been standardised in many countries. The standards prescribe demands
for the equipment and execution of the test. They are based on comprehensive research regarding the effect of
different factors on the results. In most standards, a certain number of vanes of different sizes are specified for
use depending on the shear strength of the soil. The tests are interpreted in the same way and are expected to
yield the same result regardless of the size of the vane used. However, in spite of the numerous investigations of
the effect of different factors on the test results, the effect of the actual size of the vane has been studied only to
a limited extent. A new investigation in Sweden has shown that the size of the vane can affect the results in
different ways depending on the type of soil. It is therefore recommended to use as far as possible the standard
size of the vane on which the bulk of the experience is based and, in cases where larger or smaller vanes are to
be used, to check whether there is any effect of size on the results.
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2 NEW EQUIPMENT
Relatively simple lightweight equipment was
developed in Sweden during the 60s. In this equipment,
no casing is used, but there is a slip coupling between
the vane and the rods. The vane is pushed directly to
the test level. The rod friction is first measured and
then separated from the total torque required to rotate
the equipment. This equipment has proved to yield
results compatible with the original SGI equipment in
the soft homogeneous clays for which it was designed,
but great care has to be taken to pre-drill any dry crust
and stiffer layers above the soft clay. The lightweight
equipment may also cause greater disturbance in
layered soils and the results have often been found to
differ from those obtained with the heavier equipment
in deeper profiles, particularly in varved and layered
soils. The slip coupling is often incorporated in the
old type of equipment in order to avoid any influence
of internal friction in the rod and casing system.
A new generation of field vane equipment has
recently been introduced. This is adapted to modern
drill rigs and incorporates casings, electrical rotation
of the vane, electronic measurement of the time and
torque, and automatic storage of the measured data.
In general, the geometric design and dimensions of
the equipment are the same as for the traditional type.
However, for manufacturing reasons the previous cast
bronze casing for the vane, which was shaped to
exactly accommodate the vane, has been replaced by
a solid cylindrical casing with two slots at right angles
to each other. This has caused some concern for a larger
disturbed zone in front of the casing because of a larger
displaced soil volume.
4 DISTURBANCE EFFECTS
Several types of disturbance effect occur when the vane
is inserted in the ground. When using a casing, there
is a heavily disturbed zone just below the tip of the
casing. This effect is intended to be avoided by pushing
the vane a sufficiently longer distance to be outside
this disturbed zone. The current specification in the
procedure recommended by the Swedish Geotechnical
Society (1993) is that the free distance between the
vane and the casing must be between 0.35 and 0.5 m
depending on the size of the vane and its casing. This
figure is based on investigations performed with the
original design of the casing.
At insertion of the vane itself, there are two types
of disturbance effect. Depending on the volume of soil
displaced by the vane, the soil in its vicinity becomes
more or less disturbed and the soil adjacent to the
blades becomes almost completely remoulded, Fig. 2.
If the excess pore pressure created at insertion is
allowed to dissipate and the soil reconsolidates, most
of these effects are eliminated, at least in normally
consolidated soils. Investigations by Aas (1965),
Wiesel (1973) and Torstensson (1977) have shown that
these disturbance effects are significant, particularly
in low-plastic clays. They can also vary greatly
between different soils of the same plasticity, Fig. 3.
The average disturbance at insertion is incorporated
in the correction factors for the test (Larsson et al.
1984). The disturbance is related to the cross-sectional
area of the vane and particularly to the thickness of
the wings towards their edges. La Rochelle et al. (1973)
and Roy and Leblanc (1988) found a linear relation
between the disturbance effects and the thickness of
the wing edge in tests performed with the normal
procedure. The vanes are therefore often manufactured
with wings that decrease in thickness towards the edge.
However, the vanes have to be designed also with
consideration to maximum torque and wear. The
thicknesses of both the vane shafts and the wings are
Proceedings ISC2 on Geotechnical and Geophysical Site Characterization, Viana da Fonseca & Mayne (eds.)
273
7 RESULTS
5 BACKGROUND TO THE NEW
INVESTIGATION
There were mainly three reasons for the new
investigation (hnberg et al. 2001):
In tests in deep soil profiles in Sweden, it had been
observed that a change to a smaller vane,
necessitated by the increase in shear strength with
depth, may be associated with a sudden decrease in
measured shear strength at the depth for the change
and a considerably lower increase in measured shear
strength with depth thereafter.
Most of the Swedish experience refers to vanes of
the normal size of 65 x 130 mm. However, larger
vanes are sometimes used in order to increase the
accuracy and resolution of tests in soft soils. A
discussion has thereby emerged as to whether the
results from the two vane sizes are fully compatible.
New equipment with somewhat altered design and
new measuring devices had been introduced on the
market and questions had arisen as to whether the
results from these are entirely compatible with those
from the traditional equipment.
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40
60
80
100
10
Average relation = 0,85:1
Depth, m
20
15
20
25
30
35
120
10
20
30
40
10
Depth, m
15
20
Normal vane
-"-
Mean value
25
Small vane
-"30
Mean value
100
Torque, Nm
80
60
40
20
0
0
50
100
150
Rotation, degrees
Fig. 5. Uncertainty in the evaluation of the results from lightweight
field vane equipment at high rod friction.
Proceedings ISC2 on Geotechnical and Geophysical Site Characterization, Viana da Fonseca & Mayne (eds.)
275
10
15
20
25
Depth, m
10
Normal vane, D=65mm
"-"
12
"-"
Fig. 7. Results from tests with normal and large vanes at Ndinge.
8 DISCUSSION
The results in this investigation in principle show that
for tests in clay the larger the vane the higher the shear
strength values are, provided that the thicknesses of
the shafts and wings are the same. This can be related
to the fact that the relative influence of the disturbance
at installation of the vane increases with decreasing
vane size. The difference in evaluated shear strength
is often insignificant but can be considerable in easily
disturbed soils, particularly for small vanes.
This effect is counteracted in organic soil by the
fact that the fibre content will cause the shear surface
to be located a certain distance outside the perimeter
of the vane. This may result in the opposite trend that
small vanes yield higher shear strength values than
larger ones.
The measured shear strength values are converted
to undrained shear strength by empirical correction
factors. These factors include the effect of normal
disturbance and possible discrepancies from the
assumed shear surface. However, they are based on
empirical experience from mainly the normal vane and
do not compensate for possible unusual effects, such
as effects of vane size.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This investigation was performed by the Swedish
Geotechnical Institute in cooperation with the
manufacturers Geotech AB and ENVI AB, the
consulting companies Flygfltsbyrn AB, Forsgrens
Konsultbyr, Geogruppen AB and Jacobsson &
Widmark AB, and Chalmers University of Technology.
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