Faculty of Engineering Technology

Civil Engineering Department

Soil Laboratory

ENCE 311

Experiment #10

“DIRECT Shear Test”

Instructors :

Dr. Abdelhamid Mimi, Eng. Shuroq AL Jamal

Done By Group C

` ANAS AKRAM 1160382

AYA KHALA 1171720

HANNA SAFAR 1172052

ANAS RABBA 1151890

AHMAD SAHEM 1160074

Section :2

Date of perform the experiment : 7/12/2019

Date of submitting the experiment:14/12/2019

Contents
Introduction: .................................................................................................................................. 1
Background information:............................................................................................................. 1
Purpose: .................................................................................................................................. 4
Instruments .................................................................................................................................... 4
Procedure: ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Data and calculations .................................................................................................................... 5
Result and conclusion .................................................................................................................. 11
Reference:..................................................................................................................................... 13
Introduction:

Background information:

Since soil is one of the most important elements to consider when working on any type of

structure and pavement and it works as a bearing material which bears loads coming from

loads above like buildings, cars, etc.. for each type of soil there’s a specific amount of

bearing the soil can handle. There are many tests that can help measure stresses like axial

stresses, shear stresses, and CBR test to measure the CBR rating. For this test the goal is

measuring the Direct Shear strength (S) of soil.

The direct shear test is a laboratory testing method used to determine the shear strength

parameters of soil. The test can be carried out at different moisture contents; however, it is

common to saturated the sample before running the test.

To achieve reliable results, the test is often carried out on three or four samples of

undisturbed soil. The soil sample is placed in a cubic shear box composed of a upper and

lower box. The limit between the two parts of the box is approximately at the mid height

of the sample. The sample is subjected to a controlled normal stress and the upper part of

the sample is pulled laterally at a controlled strain rate or until the sample fails. The applied

lateral load and the induced strain are recorded at given internals. These measurements are

then used to plot the stress-strain curve of the sample during the loading for the given

normal stress.

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Depending on the equipment, the shear test can be either stress controlled or strain

controlled.

In stress-controlled tests, the shear force is applied in equal increments until the specimen

fails. The failure occurs along the plane of split of the shear box. After the application of

each incremental load, the shear displacement of the top half of the box is measured by a

horizontal dial gauge.

The change in the height of the specimen during the test can be obtained from the readings

of a dial gauge that measures the vertical movement of the upper loading plate.

In strain-controlled tests which used, a constant rate of shear displacement is applied to one

half of the box by a motor that acts through gears. The constant rate of shear displacement

is measured by a horizontal dial gauge. The resisting shear force of the soil corresponding

to any shear displacement can be measured by a horizontal proving ring or load cell.

The volume change of the specimen during the test is obtained in a manner similar to that

in the stress-controlled tests.

The advantage of the strain-controlled tests is that in the case of dense sand, peak shear

resistance at failure as well as lesser shear resistance at a point after failure called (ultimate

strength) can be observed and plotted. In stress-controlled tests, only the peak shear

resistance can be observed and plotted. Note that the peak shear resistance in stress-

controlled tests can be only approximated because failure occurs at a stress level

somewhere between the pre failure load increment and the failure load increment.

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 • Normal stress (Ϭ)

• Shear stress ( ῐ )

ῐ = Ϭ * tan (Ф)

Where:
Ф = angle of friction of soil.
The angle of friction, is a function of the relative density, of compaction of sand, grain size,

shape and distribution in a given soil mass, for a given sand, an increase in the void ratio

will result in a decrease of the magnitude of However, for a given void ratio, an increase

in the angularity of the soil particles will give a higher value of the soil friction angle.

Table (1): Typical values of the drained angle of friction

Round-grained sand 𝝓(deg)

Loose 28-32
Medium 32-35
Dense 35-38
Angular-grained sand 𝜙(deg)
Loose 30-36
Medium 36-40
Dense 40-45

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Purpose:

This test is performed to determine the consolidated-drained shear strength of a sandy. The

shear strength is one of the most important engineering properties of a soil, because it is

required whenever a structure is dependent on the soil’s shearing resistance.

Hypothesis:

It is expected that the results gives values of internal angel of friction are high because sand

resisting high with internal angel of friction where it may has zero of cohesion between its

particle.

Instruments

strain controlled direct shear equipment.

a sample of sand

Shear box

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Procedure:

• We Weighed sand in a water can, W1. We filled the shear box with
sand in small layers and compacted them using a compactor.
• We measured the dimensions of the specimen using the mold
• We put the shear box assembly in place in the direct shear machine.
• We Applied the desired normal load, N, on the specimen. This can be
hanging dead weights to the vertical load yoke.
• We removed the two vertical pines holding at the end of the mold.
• We attached the horizontal and vertical dial gauge to the shear box to
measure the displacement during the test.
• We applied horizontal load S to top half of the shear box. The rate of
shear displacement should be between 0.1 to 0.02 inch/min.
• We recorded data until failure

Data and calculations

Table (2) sample 2kg load
Horiz displace shearing
load force stress
diva mm div N KPA
0 0 0 0 0
5 0.05 4 70 19.44444
10 0.1 5 80 22.22222
15 0.15 5 80 22.22222
20 0.2 6 100 27.77778
25 0.25 8 130 36.11111
30 0.3 8 130 36.11111
35 0.35 8 130 36.11111
40 0.4 8 130 36.11111
50 0.5 8 130 36.11111
60 0.6 8 130 36.11111
70 0.7 8 130 36.11111
80 0.8 8 130 36.11111
90 0.9 8 130 36.11111

5
 2kg
40
35
30
stress kpa

25
20
15
10
5
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Horizantel displacement mm

Figure "1": Shear stress vs. Horizontal Displacement

Table(3 ) sample 4kg load

Horiz displace shearing

load force stress
diva mm div N KPA
0 0 0 0 0
5 0.05 4 70 19.44444
10 0.1 4 100 27.77778
15 0.15 4 130 36.11111
20 0.2 5 170 47.22222
25 0.25 5 180 50
30 0.3 6 200 55.55556
35 0.35 7 210 58.33333
40 0.4 7 220 61.11111
45 0.45 7 230 63.88889
50 0.5 7.5 250 69.44444
60 0.6 8 270 75
70 0.7 8.5 275 76.38889
80 0.8 9 290 80.55556
90 0.9 9 300 83.33333

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100 1 9.5 320 88.88889
120 1.2 10 320 88.88889
140 1.4 11 330 91.66667
160 1.6 11.5 350 97.22222
180 1.8 12 370 102.7778
200 2 12.5 380 105.5556
240 2.4 13 410 113.8889
280 2.8 14 430 119.4444
320 3.2 14.5 450 125
360 3.6 15 470 130.5556
400 4 15 480 133.3333
450 4.5 15.5 500 138.8889
500 5 15.5 500 138.8889

4kg
160
140
120
stress kpa

100
80
60
40
20
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Horizantel displacement mm

Figure "2": Shear stress vs. Horizontal Displacement

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 Table (4 ) sample 8kg load

Horiz displace shearing

load force stress
diva mm div N KPA
0 0 0 0 0
5 0.05 4 70 19.44444
10 0.1 6 100 27.77778
15 0.15 8 130 36.11111
20 0.2 10 170 47.22222
25 0.25 11 180 50
30 0.3 12 200 55.55556
35 0.35 12.5 210 58.33333
40 0.4 13 220 61.11111
45 0.45 14 230 63.88889
50 0.5 15 250 69.44444
60 0.6 16 270 75
70 0.7 16.5 275 76.38889
80 0.8 17.5 290 80.55556
90 0.9 18 300 83.33333
100 1 19 320 88.88889
120 1.2 19 320 88.88889
140 1.4 20 330 91.66667
160 1.6 21 350 97.22222
180 1.8 22 370 102.7778
200 2 23 380 105.5556
240 2.4 24.5 410 113.8889
280 2.8 26 430 119.4444
320 3.2 27 450 125
360 3.6 28 470 130.5556
400 4 29 480 133.3333
450 4.5 30 500 138.8889
500 5 30 500 138.8889
550 5.5 31 520 144.4444
600 6 31 520 144.4444

8
 8kg
160
140
120
stress kpa 100
80
60
40
20
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Horizantel displacement mm

Figure "3": Shear stress vs. Horizontal Displacement

Table (5) sample 16kg load

Horiz displace shearing
load force stress
diva mm div N KPA
0 0 0 0 0
5 0.05 5 80 22.22222
10 0.1 12 200 55.55556
15 0.15 14 230 63.88889
20 0.2 16 270 75
25 0.25 18 300 83.33333
30 0.3 19 320 88.88889
35 0.35 20 330 91.66667
40 0.4 21 350 97.22222
45 0.45 22 370 102.7778
50 0.5 23 380 105.5556
60 0.6 23.5 390 108.3333
70 0.7 24 400 111.1111
80 0.8 25 420 116.6667
90 0.9 26 430 119.4444
100 1 29 480 133.3333
120 1.2 31 520 144.4444
140 1.4 32 530 147.2222
160 1.6 34 570 158.3333
180 1.8 35 580 161.1111
200 2 36.5 610 169.4444

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 240 2.4 38.5 640 177.7778
280 2.8 40 670 186.1111
320 3.2 42 700 194.4444
360 3.6 43 720 200
400 4 44.5 740 205.5556
450 4.5 46 770 213.8889
500 5 46.5 775 215.2778
600 6 48 800 222.2222

250

200
stress kpa

150

100

50

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Horizantel displacement mm

Figure "4": Shear stress vs. Horizontal Displacement

Table (6) stress and strain

trial 1 2 3 4 5

shear stress 0 36.1 144 222.2 138.9

Normal stress 0 54.1 109 218 43.6

10
 250
y = 1.0667x - 1.0595
200

150
shear stress

100

50

0
0 50 100 150 200 250
-50
normal stress

Figure "7": stress strain

𝛷 = tan − 1(slop) = tan − 1(1.0667) = 47degree

Result and conclusion

Table(7)stress and strain results

trial 1 2 3 4 5

shear stress 0 36.1 144 222.2 138.9

Normal stress 0 54.1 109 218 43.6

From the results, it can be observed that the shear stress increase with the increase the

applied normal stress, and for the same normal stress the shear stress varied highly with

respect to strain rate.

Also, it can be seen that for relatively rapid shearing rates the sand gains higher stiffness

and a corresponding increase in the angle of internal friction.

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Finally, we can notice from that the line is approximately passes from the origin, which
means
that the cohesion (C) of the sand is approximately equal zero.

In general, the angle of internal friction is found to increase with increasing strain rate at

which the direct shear test is performed. In comparison to the sand with higher relative

density, this effect is observed to be more on sand with lower relative density.

The results may not be correct and this comes from many of errors during the experiment.

To include, the 8 kg experiment was not considered because the force was not applied to

the sample.

There are some disadvantage of this test:

1. We determined the failure area before happened which is in the center of the sample.
2. We assume that the area is constant but in fact its variable, since horizontal displace
loses
some materials so the area will decrease.
3. The applied load is assumed uniform distributed on the sample which is not true.

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Reference:

• Das, Braja M., Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, 7th edition.

• Das, Braja M., Soil Mechanics Laboratory Manual, 6th edition, University of

California State, 2002 print.

• Das, B. M. (2006). Principles of geotechnical engineering. Stamford,CT:

Thomson Learning College.

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