Objective:

To familiarize the reader with a procedure for rapidly estimating the shear strength parameters ( and c) of
a soil.

General Discussion:
The direct shear test imposes on a soil the idealized conditions. That is, the failure plane is
forced to occur at a predetermined location. On this plane there are two stresses acting- a
normal stress due to an applied vertical load and a shearing stresses due to the applied
horizontal load.

Where:

N is the normal stress

S or f is the shear stress
1 + 3 = 1

N = N / A

= T / A

Mohr Coulomb Failure envelope:

 The sliding and interlocking will increase the strength.

For :

loose soil will happen Concentration.

For :

Dense soil will happen dilation or expansion.

On the apparatus, if the gage go: Clockwise

expansion.
Counter.C.W compression.

Equipments:

1)
2)
3)
4)

Direct shear device.

2 dial gauges or LVDTs (0.01 mm or 0.001 in).
Calipers.
Small level.

Procedures:
Get the weight of a large dish for dry sand of sufficient quantity to do at least three tests at
the same density.
Assemble the shear box and fix into position, then place the sand in the shear box to about
5 mm from the top and place the load block (including porous stone) on top of the soil.
Make the desired normal load Pu and attach the vertical displacement dial gauge or LVDT
(direct reading to 0.01 mm/div).
Separate the two parts of the shear box by advancing the spacing screws in the upper half
of the shear box and attach the dial gauge or LVDT (direct reading to 0.01 mm/div)to measure
the shear displacement.
Saturate the sample by filling the shear box with water, and allow a reasonable time for
saturation to take place. (For a saturated test).

 Remove the sand from the shear box and repeat the previous steps on at least two
additional samples. These samples must have an initial mass within 5 to 10g of the first sample
and occupy the same volume (use the reference marks of Step 2).

Data & Calculations:

We were three groups applied three amount of loads on a 150 gm of sand with rate of
loading equal to 1 mm / min.
The three loads was:
10 kg.
30 kg.
60 kg.
Area = 6 * 6 = 36 cm2.
The horizontal gage was the guide one.

v (mm)

h (mm)

load Dial
reading

10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
320
330
340
350
360

0
-0.5
-0.5
-1
-1
-2
-2
-3
-3
-3
-3
-3
-3
-3.5
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5
-5.5
-5.5
-6
-6
-6
-6
-6
-6
-6.5
-6.5

22
25
26
26
27
28
28
28
28
30
30
31
32
32
34
35
36
36
35
37
37
38
38
40
40
40
39
38
38
38
38
38
38
38
38
38

0
-0.005
-0.005
-0.01
-0.01
-0.02
-0.02
-0.03
-0.03
-0.03
-0.03
-0.03
-0.03
-0.035
-0.04
-0.04
-0.04
-0.04
-0.04
-0.04
-0.04
-0.05
-0.05
-0.05
-0.05
-0.05
-0.055
-0.055
-0.06
-0.06
-0.06
-0.06
-0.06
-0.06
-0.065
-0.065

0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6

50
55
57.5
57.5
60
62.5
62.5
62.5
62.5
67.5
67.5
70
71.67
71.67
75
77.5
80
80
77.5
82.5
82.5
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85

Shear stress
(Kpa)
13.88889
15.27778
15.97222
15.97222
16.66667
17.36111
17.36111
17.36111
17.36111
18.75
18.75
19.44444
19.90833
19.90833
20.83333
21.52778
22.22222
22.22222
21.52778
22.91667
22.91667
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111
23.61111

370

-6.5

38

-0.065

3.7

85

v (mm)

h (mm)

load Dial
reading

10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
320
330
340
350
360
370

-2
-3
-5
-6
-7
-7
-8
-8
-8
-9
-9
-9
-9
-9
-9
-9
-9
-9
-8
-8
-8
-7
-7
-6
-6
-6
-5
-5
-5
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-4
-3
-3

34
45
52
56
60
64
67
68
71
73
75
77
78
80
82
84
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85
85

-0.02
-0.03
-0.05
-0.06
-0.07
-0.07
-0.08
-0.08
-0.08
-0.09
-0.09
-0.09
-0.09
-0.09
-0.09
-0.09
-0.09
-0.09
-0.08
-0.08
-0.08
-0.07
-0.07
-0.06
-0.06
-0.06
-0.05
-0.05
-0.05
-0.04
-0.04
-0.04
-0.04
-0.04
-0.04
-0.03
-0.03

0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7

75
100
115
125
135
142.5
150
152.5
158.33
162.5
167.5
172.5
175
185.33
182.5
187.5
190
190
190
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5
197.5

23.61111

Shear
stress
(Kpa)
20.83333
27.77778
31.94444
34.72222
37.5
39.58333
41.66667
42.36111
43.98056
45.13889
46.52778
47.91667
48.61111
51.48056
50.69444
52.08333
52.77778
52.77778
52.77778
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111
54.86111

v
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
320
330
340
350
360
370

-3
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-9.5
-10
-10.5
-11
-11
-12
-12
-12.5
-13
-13
-13
-13
-13
-13
-13
-13
-13
-13
-13
-13
-12.5
-12
-11
-11.5
-11
-11
-10
-10
-9.5
-9.5
-9.5

T
45
55
65
70
75
80
84
86
88
90
91
94
102
112
118
118
121
123
124
127
128
130
130
132
135
136
136
137
138
139
141
144
144
144
144
144
144

v (mm)

h (mm)

-0.03
-0.05
-0.06
-0.07
-0.08
-0.09
-0.095
-0.1
-0.105
-0.11
-0.11
-0.12
-0.12
-0.125
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.13
-0.125
-0.12
-0.11
-0.115
-0.11
-0.11
-0.1
-0.1
-0.095
-0.095
-0.095

0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7

load Dial
reading
100
122.5
145
156.67
167.5
178.33
187.5
192.5
196.67
200
202.5
210
227.5
250
263.3
263.3
270
275
277.5
283.33
285
290
290
295
301.67
303.33
303.33
305
307.5
310
315
321.66
321.66
321.66
321.66
321.66
321.66

Shear
stress
(Kpa)
27.77778
34.02778
40.27778
43.51944
46.52778
49.53611
52.08333
53.47222
54.63056
55.55556
56.25
58.33333
63.19444
69.44444
73.13889
73.13889
75
76.38889
77.08333
78.70278
79.16667
80.55556
80.55556
81.94444
83.79722
84.25833
84.25833
84.72222
85.41667
86.11111
87.5
89.35
89.35
89.35
89.35
89.35
89.35

SHEAR STRESS (kpa)

SHEAR STRESS vs. h

100
80
60
40
20
0
0

h (mm)

SHEAR STRESS vs. NORMAL STRESS

SHEAR STRESS (kpa)

y = 0.5778x
100
80
60
40
20
0
0

50

100
NORMAL STRESS (kpa)

150

200

Sample of calculation:

Area = 36 cm2.
Mass of sand = 150 g.
N (10 kg) = N / A = (10 * 9.81) / ( 36 * 10-4 ) = 27.25. Kpa.
N (30 kg) = N / A = (30 * 9.81) / ( 36 * 10-4 ) = 81.75. Kpa.
N (60 kg) = N / A = (60 * 9.81) / ( 36 * 10-4 ) = 163.5. Kpa.
V (for the second reading in table 1) = 0.01 * dial reading = 0.01 * -0.5 = -0.005 mm.
H (for the first reading in table 1) = 0.01 * dial reading = 0.01 * 10 = 0.1 mm.
Shear stress, (for the first reading in table 1) = 50 / ( 36 * 10-4 ) = 13.88889 KN / m2.

Discussion & Conclusions:

We see that the shear strength parameters is :

C = 0, because it is a cohesion less soil (sand).

= 0.5778 rad.

We apply a vertical load on a soil by using odometer device which can convert the vertical

load to a horizontal load to reduce a shear failure on the soil.

We can see that the shear force will increase with increasing the vertical load and it will be

bigger in the contraction case.