Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING: CIVIL ENGINEERING
COURSE: GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
CODE: GET710S
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... 1
1
OBJECTIVES................................................................................................................ 1
EQUIPMENT................................................................................................................. 1
PROCEDURES............................................................................................................. 1
RESULTS..................................................................................................................... 2
Specimen data........................................................................................................ 2
Shearing Data......................................................................................................... 3
DISCUSSION................................................................................................................ 8
Shear Stress versus Shear Displacement graphs....................................................8
Vertical Displacement versus Horizontal Displacement...........................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 9
INTRODUCTION
Most of the civil works take require soil or ground as a supporting structure to the
structure being constructed. This support originates from the friction between the
soil particles on the soil. Inadequate friction or shear of the soil grains will result in
the failure of the soil therefore failing the structure itself. Shear failure is therefore a
major problem in the whole spectrum of civil engineering thus for it to be alleviated
or avoided at all a thorough study on the type of shear that could affect the
structure has to be done prior to the construction commences. This is usually done
by contacting an investigation of the material at the site to be constructed or those
to be used in the construction process. A good quality material to better support a
building has to have a good cohesion among its particles therefore having a higher
tolerance to shearing. Laboratory test for shear on the soil is done using the shear
box apparatus that gives data that would be analyzed to give the cohesion of the
soil and the failure stress.
OBJECTIVES
Determining the shear strength properties of a drained soil sample.
EQUIPMENT
PROCEDURES
The mass of the soil sample was obtained by weighing and recording the mass of an
empty container and then adding in the soil.
2
The dimension of the shear box, shear and porous plates were measured using the
Vernier calipers and recorded.
After the base plate was placed in the box, the porous plate, then the shear base
plates were placed into the shear box and the measured soil sample poured in until
above the base of the top of the shearing section of the shear box while the box was
held in place by screws.
The top of the soil was levelled and the shearing plate and the porous plate were
added at the top of the soil.
The cover was added and the complete setup of the shear box was placed in the
shearing machine.
The remaining soil in the pan was measured and recorded.
The shear box was positioned and fastened on to the machine and the pulley
system straightened and aligned.
The horizontal and the shear displacement gauges were put to zero while the
vertical displacement gauge set to 5.2
The alignment screws on the shear box were removed before the load was released
and the vertical displacement / consolidation started.
The mass of 2 kg was gently released on the hanger of the pulley system and a
stopwatch started simultaneously.
Vertical displacements were recorded at different time intervals during the process.
After the vertical displacement ceased to change, the machine was then started up
to shear the soil after the initial consolidation.
The vertical, horizontal and shear force readings were recorded at different time
intervals during the test.
When there was no more change in the horizontal displacement, the machine was
reversed and the process repeated for the 4 and 8 kg masses.
RESULTS
Specimen data
Mass of soil
Specimen Number
Initial mass disturbed
soil g
Mass of soil remaining
g
Mass of specimen
g
1
717.5
2
780.0
3
757.0
497.5
453.5
490.5
220.0
326.5
266.5
Length1
(mm)
100
Length2
(mm)
100
Depth of specimen
(mm)
16
2
Area
(mm2)
10 000
Specimen Number
Top of box to top of baseplate (h1)
mm
Top of box to top of porous plate
(h2) mm
Combined thickness of plates (tp)
mm
Specimen thickness H0 = h1 (h2 +
tp) mm
1
45
2
45
3
45
11
10
18
18
18
16
17
20
Density=
mass
volume
220 g
160 000 mm3
1.375 x 103 g /m m3
Shearing Data
2 kg
Time
(min)
Elaps
ed
Time
(min)
0
0.5
0
15
16
1.5
21
Force
Readi
ng
0
0.059
5
0.063
5
0.083
3
Shear
Stres
s kPa
Horizontal
Displacement
Vertical Displacement
0
5.95
Measured
mm
0
0.15
Cumulati
ve mm
0
0.15
Reading
mm
9.322
9.322
Cumulati
ve mm
0
0
6.35
0.5
0.65
9.3
0.022
8.33
0.74
1.39
9.276
0.046
23
39.55
42.06
43.5
10
46
11
46.2
12
45.8
15
45
20
44.9
0.091
2
0.156
7
0.166
6
0.172
6
0.182
5
0.183
3
0.181
7
0.178
5
0.178
1
9.12
2.39
9.228
0.094
15.67
2.8
5.19
8.814
0.508
16.66
3.4
8.59
8.81
0.512
17.26
12.59
8.808
0.514
18.25
5.8
18.39
8.816
0.506
18.33
6.4
24.79
8.816
0.506
18.17
6.95
31.74
8.816
0.506
17.85
8.78
40.52
8.79
0.532
17.81
11.7
52.22
8.738
0.584
Stress (kPa)
10
8
6
4
2
0
10
12
14
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
10
12
14
Elapse
d
Time
(min)
Force
Readin
g
Shear
Stress
kPa
Horizontal
Displacement
Measured Cumulati
mm
ve mm
Vertical
Displacement
Reading
Cumulati
ve mm
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
5
6
7
10
11
12
15
20
0
12
26
34
40
65
68.5
77
77
78
78.5
78
74
0
0.0476
0.1031
0.1349
0.1587
0.2579
0.2717
0.3055
0.3055
0.3094
0.3114
0.3094
0.2936
0
4.76
10.31
13.49
15.87
25.79
27.17
30.55
30.55
30.94
31.14
30.94
29.36
0
0.2
0.5
0.85
1.1
2.9
3.48
4.1
5.9
6.45
7.1
8.9
11.9
6.712
6.718
6.65
6.59
6.336
5.996
5.984
5.962
5.948
5.936
5.93
5.9
5.842
0
0.2
0.7
1.55
2.65
5.55
9.03
13.13
19.03
25.48
32.58
41.48
53.38
0.000
-0.006
0.062
0.122
0.376
0.716
0.728
0.75
0.764
0.776
0.782
0.812
0.870
15
10
5
0
10
12
14
Horizontal displacement mm
0.4
0.2
0
10
-0.2
12
14
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
5
6
7
10
11
12
15
20
25
Elapsed
Time
(min)
Force
Reading
0
35
53
67
79
120
130
134
139.5
140
141
149
154
149
0
0.1388
0.2103
0.2658
0.3134
0.4760
0.5157
0.5316
0.5534
0.5554
0.5593
0.5911
0.6109
0.5911
Shear
Stress
kPa
0.00
13.88
21.03
26.58
31.34
47.60
51.57
53.16
55.34
55.54
55.93
59.11
61.09
59.11
Horizontal Displacement
Measured
mm
0
0.25
0.3
0.85
1.15
2.95
3.5
4.1
5.9
6.52
7.15
8.9
11.9
13.6
Cumulative
mm
0
0.2
0.5
1.35
2.5
5.45
8.95
13.05
18.95
25.47
32.62
41.52
53.42
67.02
Vertical
Displacement
Readin
Cumulativ
g mm
e mm
8.660
0
8.640
0.02
8.570
0.09
8.330
0.33
8.300
0.36
8.020
0.64
8.020
0.64
8.028
0.632
8.022
0.638
8.010
0.65
7.996
0.664
7.950
0.71
7.666
0.994
7.610
1.05
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
10
Horizontal Displacement mm
12
14
16
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
10
12
14
16
The normal stress exerted on a sample can be calculated using the Coulomb
Envelope equation:
Normal stress=
Normal force
Lever factor
Cross sectional area of the specimen
Using a lever factor of 10, the normal stress from the 2 kg mass:
2 X 9.81
X 10=19.67 kN /m2
0.01
4 X 9.81
X 10=39.24 kN /m2
0.01
8 X 9.81
X 10=78.48 kN /m2
0.01
Maximum Shear Stress
(kPa)
18.33
31.14
8
61.09
78.48
50
40
30
20
10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Therefore, from the graph, friction angle for the failure envelope:
=tan1 (0.7661)
=37.5
DISCUSSION
Shear Stress versus Shear Displacement graphs
From the shear (horizontal) displacement versus shear stress graphs, it is evident
that the soil sample is of the dense sand type. This can be seen from the pattern of
the graphs were by the shear stress increases to a maximum value and then falls
again as the shear displacement increases. This condition will be expected in dense
sandy soils as the sand grains would slide over each other therefore resulting in the
type of graph.
38 .
Conclusion
Although the direct shear test is a simple test to perform, one of its short comings is
that the soil sample is sheared along a predetermined surface and not in the natural
weakest surface the soil would have failed normally. This distorts the results of the
experiment into presumed results. Results could also have been affected by the fact
that the shear force distribution has not been uniformly distributed all over the soil
sample as the soil is being sheared.
10