Experiment No.

05
DIRECT SHEAR TEST ON COHESIONLESS SOIL
[Referenced Standard: ASTM D 3080]

A Laboratory Report
Presented to Engr. Miller Cutora
Department of Civil Engineering
Gokongwei College of Engineering
De La Salle University

In Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements for the Subject
Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory 2
(LBYCVG2)

Submitted by:
CAMPADO, Darlene Clarice
LBYCVG2 EH1
Group No. 04
February 23, 2016

CRITERIA RATING
1 Ability to work well with other
) members of the group. (5%)
2 Ability to start and finish the
) experiment promptly. (5%)
3 Ability to follow experimental
) procedures. (10%)
4 Ability to gather and analyze
) data correctly. (40%)
5
Laboratory Report. (40%)
)
TOTAL:
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I. OBJECTIVES

The laboratory activity deals with the shear strength properties of sandy soils under drained
conditions using the Direct Shear Test Method on cohesionless soil (as referenced from ASTM D
2080). The test method is considered the most economical and easiest test in identifying the
approximate shear strength of a particular soil in terms of total stress. The obtained unconfined
compressive strength of cohesive strength of cohesive soil is essential in identifying the strength
and bearing capacity for foundation applications. The experiment seeks to achieve the following
objectives:
To prepare a non-cohesive soil sample, in this case, Ottawa sand, in a shear-box assembly
To make a cohesionless soil sample that has a minimum width to thickness ratio of 2
To familiarize the group in using the direct shear apparatus

Figure 1. Direct Shear Apparatus Diagram (Uniframe Machine)

To obtain the peak shear strength, cohesion and angle of friction of the cohesionless soil
sample
To make a visual interpretation of the parameters using a Mohrs circle.

II. DATA PRESENTATION

Table 1. Experimental data 1:

A. SPECIMEN DATA

Group Number 1 2 3 4

Length (mm) 60 60 60 60
Width (mm) 60 60 60 60
Initial Height (mm) 26.2 31 25.75 25.75
Cross-sectional area (mm2) 3600 3600 3600 3600
Initial Volume (mm3) 94320 111600 92700 92700
Mass of specimen (at the start of test), kg 0.1668 0.1609 0.162 0.1609
3
WET DENSITY OF SPECIMEN (kg/m ) 1768.447837 1441.756272 1747.57282 1735.70658

Table 2. Experimental data 2

B. SHEAR STRESS DATA

Group Number 1 2 3 4
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Normal Load (kg) 20 80 40 10

Normal Stress (kPa) 54.5 218 109 27.25
Strain Rate (mm/mm) 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25

Table 3. Experimental data 3

SHEAR STRENGTH PARAMETERS

Angle of internal friction, degrees 9.4653
Cohesion 20.797

Figure 1. Graph of Stress vs Strain for the four samples with varied loadings
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Figure 2. Graph of Shear Strain vs Volumetric Strain for the four samples with varied loadings
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Peak Stress vs Normal Stresses

250

200

150 f(x) = 0.74x

f(x) = 0.6x + 20.8

Peak Stress (kPa)

100

50

0
0 50 100 150 200 250

Normal Stress (kPa)

Linear () Linear ()

Figure 3. Peak Stresses vs Normal Stresses

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The strength of soil is the greatest stress it can sustain without failure. Its shear strength is
then defined as the soils resistance to shearing stresses, which heavily depended upon the particle
interactions during shearing. Four dry sandy soil samples as seen in Table 1, were used for this
experiment. Using a direct shear apparatus, horizontal and vertical loadings were applied in a
confined soil sample and the soils resistance to deformation by continuous displacement was
measured. Under four different loading conditions, its horizontal and vertical displacements were
obtained and represented by Figures 1 and 2.
The graphs in Figure 1 were uniform following a particular pattern of increasing shear
stress until its peak then decreases its shear strength while the strain increases. The rapid increase
in shear stress at the start of the shearing test is due to the soil's resistance to the horizontal
compression until it reaches it limit shown by its peak, followed by a sudden drop on the shear
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stress. The peak signifies the failure of the soil to resist any longer, thus causing the shear stress
to suddenly drop. This peak in the graph is the peak strength of the soil sample. The sudden drop
in the shear stress while the shear strain continues on is because the voids in the dry soil sample
arranged themselves in a way that the void spaces were occupied. thus making it easier for the
apparatus to compress the soil sample because the soil sample is in the process of arranging its
particles. When the optimum arrangement of soil particles was attained, a constant shear strength
was observed, also labeled as the residual stress.
The following peaks or peak strengths of the four soil samples where graphed linearly,
shown in Figure 3. The slope angle represents the internal friction angle. It can be shown that
there are two trendlines in the graph. The red one is the generated trendline considering the four
points in the graph, which has an internal friction angle of 31.00 00, and a cohesion of 20.797 kPa.
But the experiment dealt with a cohesionless soil so we set the trendline's intercept to zero, which
is equal to the cohesion. The second trendline (blue), has zero cohesion, and an internal friction
angle of 36.3310. The cohesion of 20.797 kPa is considered a part of the error.
Looking at the volumetric strain vs shear strain graph in Figure 2, we can see that the 4
graphs also follow a similar pattern. The volumetric strain rapidly increases more than the shear
strain and eventually reached a limit then slopes downward as the volumetric strain decreases.
this means that during the shearing test, the horizontal compression cuased the soil sample to
have a greater vertical displacement than horizontal. The reason for this rapid increase in the start
of the test is due to he arrangement of the particles. The compression load caused the soil
particles to arrange in vertical columns this increasing the displacement in the horizontal
direction. When the particles have reached the optimum arrangement, the vertical displacement
decreases.

IV. CONCLUSIONS

The shear strength of cohesionless soils is derived from frictional resistance. For a
cohesionless soil sample, the shear strength was determined using an undrained and
confined direct shear test. The internal friction angle was derived from the peak stresses
of soil under vertical and horizontal loadings. The Mohrs circle then for the stresses on
the soil samples are shown in the next page:
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Figure 7. Mohrs Circle for the shear stresses on the 4 cohesionless soil samples

V. RECOMMENDATIONS

During the compaction or consolidation of soil, it is highly prone to fail if you lift the
tamper of the shear box. So it would be highly recommended to just leave the tamper on top of
the shear box then hit the top of it to reduce the error and achieve consistent compaction force,

VI. REFERENCE

[1] ASTM, 2007 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, West Conshohocken, PA, 2007. Copyright,
American Society for Testing and Materials, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA
19428-2959.
[2] Ronaldo, H. (2015). Class 6 Shear Strength - Direct Shear Test ( Geotechnical Engineering ).
Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/hronaldo10/class-6-shear-strength-direct-shear-test-
geotechnical-engineering
[3] Adajar, M. (2016). SHEAR STRENGTH of SOIL [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9Ze7jIftUOHUUhwNHpVejlHazA