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Introduction:
The shear strength of soil is a measure of its resistance to
deformation by continuous displacement of its individual soil
particles shear strength is always required in solving stability
problems bearing capacity of foundation and plies stability of
earth retaining structures and in many other engineering
problems.

Objective:
To determine the shear strength parameters ( c and ) of soil.

Equipment:
1. Direct shear machine.
2. Dial gauges or LVDTs (0.01 mm or 0.001 im)
3. Shear box A= 36 cm.
4. Weights and balance.
5. Calipers.
6. Small level.


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Procedures:

Weight a large dish of dry sand of sufficient quantity to
do at least three tests at the same density.

Place the sand in the shear box to about 5 mm from the
top and assemble the shear box and fix into position,
and place the load block (including porous stone) on top
of the soil.

Apply 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.

Attach the dial gauge or LVDT (direct reading to 0.01
mm/div) to measure the shear displacement.

2
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 & calculation:
Horizontal
reading
(mm)
Horizontal
reading
(cm)
Load dial
(div.)
reading
Calibration
Factor
Horizontal
Shear Force
(KN)
Shear
stress
(KN/cm)
Vertical
Load
(Kg)
0.5 0.05 36 0.0284 1.02 0.028
2 Kg
1 0.1 41 0.0324 1.33 0.037
2 0.2 70 0.0553 3.87 0.108
3 0.3 80 0.0633 5.06 0.141
4 0.4 88 0.0695 6.12 0.170
0.5 0.05 45 0.0355 1.60 0.044
4 Kg
1 0.1 71 0.0561 3.98 0.111
2 0.2 98 0.0775 7.60 0.211
3 0.3 107 0.0845 9.04 0.251
4 0.4 115 0.0909 10.45 0.290
5 0.5 103 0.0814 8.38 0.233
0.5 0.05 51 0.0403 2.06 0.057
6 Kg
1 0.1 76 0.06 4.56 0.127
2 0.2 86 0.068 5.85 0.162
3 0.3 120 0.0948 11.38 0.316
4 0.4 127 0.1004 12.75 0.354
5 0.5 101 0.0798 8.06 0.224

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Discussion and Conclusion:



Reference:
Manual lab and class lab.

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