CE 3121: Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory

Class 6

Shear Strength
(Direct Shear Test)

Sources:

Soil Mechanics – Laboratory Manual, B.M. DAS (Chapter 15)

Soil Properties, Testing, Measurement, and Evaluation, C. Liu, J. Evett

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Class Outlines
 Shear strength in soils
 Introduction
 Definitions
 Direct shear test
 Introduction
 Procedure
 Calculation
 Results and Figures

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Shear Strength
 The strength of a material is the greatest
stress it can sustain
 The safety of any geotechnical structure is
dependent on the strength of the soil
 If the soil fails, the structure founded on it can
collapse

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Slope Failure in Soils

Failure due to inadequate

strength
Civil Engineering atUniversity
- Texas Tech shear interface
Shear Failure in Soils

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Bearing Capacity Failure

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Transcosna Grain Elevator Canada
(Oct. 18, 1913)

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West side of foundation sank 24-ft

Significance of Shear Strength
 Engineers must understand the nature of
shearing resistance in order to analyze soil
stability problems such as;
 Bearing capacity
 Slope stability
 Lateral earth pressure on earth-retaining
structures
 Pavement

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Shear Strength in Soils
 The shear strength of a soil is its resistance to
shearing stresses.
 It is a measure of the soil resistance to deformation
by continuous displacement of its individual soil
particles
 Shear strength in soils depends primarily on
interactions between particles
 Shear failure occurs when the stresses between the
particles are such that they slide or roll past each
other

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Shear Strength in Soils (cont.)
 Soil derives its shear strength from two
sources:
 Cohesion between particles (stress
independent component)
 Cementation between sand grains
 Electrostatic attraction between clay particles
 Frictional resistance between particles (stress
dependent component)

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Shear Strength of Soils; Cohesion
 Cohesion (C), is a measure of the forces that
cement particles of soils

 Dry sand with no cementation

 Dry sand with some cementation
 Soft clay
 Stiff clay

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Shear Strength of Soils; Internal Friction

 Internal Friction angle (f), is the measure of the

shear strength of soils due to friction

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Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criteria
 This theory states that a material fails
because of a critical combination of normal
stress and shear stress, and not from their
either maximum normal or shear stress
alone.
 The relationship between normal stress and
shear is given as
s  shear strength
s  c    tan f  c  cohesion
f   angle of internal friction

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Mohr-Coulomb Failure Criterion

Shear
Strength,S
f = f

C

Normal Stress, n =  = g h
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General State of Stress

σ1 major principle stress

σ3 σ3
Minor principle stress
Confining stress

σ1

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State of Stresses in Soils

Consider the following situation: Normal stress σn

- A normal stress is applied vertically
and held constant
- A shear stress is then applied until Shear
failure
stress σ3 σ3

σ1

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Determination of Shear Strength
Parameters
 The shear strength parameters of a soil are
determined in the lab primarily with two types of tests;
 Direct Shear Test
Normal stress σ n
 Triaxial Shear Test

1 Shear stress σ3
Soil

3

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Direct Shear Test
 Direct shear test is Quick and Inexpensive
 Shortcoming is that it fails the soil on a
designated plane which may not be the
weakest one
 Used to determine the shear strength of both
cohesive as well as non-cohesive soils
 ASTM D 3080

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Direct Shear Test (cont.)
 The test equipment consists of
a metal box in which the soil Normal stress σn
specimen is placed
 The box is split horizontally
into two halves Shear stress σ 3

 Vertical force (normal stress) Soil

is applied through a metal
platen
 Shear force is applied by
moving one half of the box
relative to the other to cause
failure in the soil specimen
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Direct Shear Test

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Direct Shear Test

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Direct Shear Test

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Direct Shear Test Data
Shear stress
Peak Strength

Residual Strength

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Direct Shear Test Data
Volume change

DH

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Direct Shear Test (Procedure)
1.Measure inner side or diameter of shear box and find the area
2.Make sure top and bottom halves of shear box are in contact and
fixed together.
3.Weigh out 150 g of sand.
4.Place the soil in three layers in the mold using the funnel.
Compact the soil with 20 blows per layer.
5.Place cover on top of sand
6.Place shear box in machine.
7.Apply normal force. The weights to use for the three runs are
2 kg, 4 kg, and 6 kg if the load is applied through a lever arm, or 10
kg, 20 kg, and 30 kg, if the load is applied directly.

Note: Lever arm loading ratio 1:10 (2kg weight = 20 kg)

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Direct Shear Test (Procedure)
8. Start the motor with selected speed (0.1 in/min) so that the
rate of shearing is at a selected constant rate
9. Take the horizontal displacement gauge, vertical displacement
gage and shear load gage readings. Record the readings on
the data sheet.
10. Continue taking readings until the horizontal shear load peaks
and then falls, or the horizontal displacement reaches 15% of
the diameter.

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Calculations
1. Determine the dry unit
weight, gd
Gsg w
2. Calculate the void e 1
ratio, e gd
N V
3. Calculate the normal  ; 
stress & shear stress A A

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Figures
Peak Stress
s3
Shear stress, s

s2

s1 N3 = 30 kg

N2 = 20 kg

N1 = 10 kg

Horizontal displacement, DH

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Figures (cont)
Shear Stress, s (psf)

(2,s2)
(3,s3)
f

(1,s1)

C

Normal Stress , psf

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Figures (cont)
Vertical displacement

Horizontal displacement

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