STUDENT CODE OF ETHIC

(SCE)
DEPARTMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

I, hereby confess that I have prepared this report on my own effort. I also admit not
to receive or give any help during the preparation of this report and pledge
that everything mentioned in the report is true.

_________________
Student Signature

Name

Matric No. :
Date

FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

1/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

1.0 OBJECTIVE
To determine the shear strength parameters of the soil such as cohesion, C and friction angle,

2.0 LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of this experiment, students are able to:

Perform the direct shear test efficiently.

Determine the shear strength parameter of the soil

3.0 THEORY
The general relationship between maximum shearing resistance, f and normal stress, n for soils can
be represented by the equation and known as Coulombs Law:

f c tan
where:

c = cohesion, which is due to internal forces holding soil particles together in a solid mass
= friction, which is due to the interlocking of the particles and the friction between them
when subjected to normal stress

The friction components increase with increasing normal stress, but the cohesion components remains
constant. If there is no normal stress the friction disappears. This relationship is shown in the graph
below. The graph generally approximates to a straight line, its inclination to the horizontal axis being
equal to the angle of shearing resistance of the soil, and its intercept on the vertical (shear stress)
axis being the apparent cohesion, denoted by c.

FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

4.0 TEST EQUIPMENTS

1. Shear box carriage

2.
3.
4.
5.

Loading pad
Perforated plate
Porous plate
Retaining plate

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

2/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

3/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

5.0 PROCEDURES
1. Verify internal measurement using vernier calipers. The length of the sides, L and the overall
depth, B.
2. Fix base plate inside the shear box. Then put the porous plate on the base plate. Fit perforated
grid plate over porous so that the grid plates should be at right angles to the direction shear.

3. Fix two halves of the shear box by means of fixing screws

4. For cohesive soils, transfer the soil sample from square specimen cutter to the shearbox by
pressing down on the top grid plate. For sandy soil, compact soil in layers to the required
density in shear box
5. Mount the shear box assembly on the loading frame
6. Set the dial of the proving ring to zero
7. Place the loading yoke on the loading pad and carefully lift the hanger onto the top of the
loading yoke.
8. Apply the correct loading to the hanger pad.
9. Carefully remove the screws clamping the upper half to the lower half
10. Conduct the test by applying horizontal shear load to failure. Rate strain should be 0.2mm/min
11. Record readings of horizontal and force dial gauges at regular intervals.
12. Conduct test on three identical soil samples under different vertical compressive stresses,
1.75kg, 2.5kg and 3.25kg

FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

4/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

6.0 CALCULATION EXAMPLE

Specimen No.: 1
Loading : 1.75kg

Proving Ring

Displacement
Dial Gauge

L (mm)

Dial Gauge

20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
280
300
320
340
360
380
400
420
440
460
480
500
520
540
560
580
600
620
640
660

0.04

34
55
67
76
85
93
100
105
110
116
120
125
127
131
135
137
140
141
144
146
148
150
151
154
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
162
162

Load, P (kN)

Shear Stress
(kN/m2)

Strain

0.2975

82.64

0.00067

FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

Strain ( 20 mm dial gauge reading) :

Dail gauge 0.002

Total length

20 0.002
60

0.00067

Shear Stress (20mm dial gauge reading):

Dail gauge 0.00875

Area

34 0.0875
0.06 0.06

82.64 kN / m 2

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

5/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

6/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

7.0 RESULT AND CALCULATIONS

Specimen No.:
Loading :
Displacement
Dial Gauge

L (mm)

Proving Ring
Dial Gauge

Load, P (kN)

Shear Stress
(kN/m2)

Strain, (%)

FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

7/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

Specimen No.:
Loading :
Displacement
Dial Gauge

L (mm)

Proving Ring
Dial Gauge

Load, P (kN)

Shear Stress
(kN/m2)

Strain, (%)

FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

8/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

Specimen No.:
Loading :
Displacement
Dial Gauge

L (mm)

Proving Ring
Dial Gauge

Load, P (kN)

Plot graph Shear Stress (kN/m2) versus Strain

Plot graph Shear Stress versus Normal Stress
Find c and value

Shear Stress
(kN/m2)

Strain, (%)

FACULTY : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

8.0 DISCUSSION

9.0 CONCLUSION

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

9/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

FACULT : CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENG.

DEPARTMENT: INFRASTRUCTURE AND
GEOMATIC ENGINEERING
TEST TITLE : DIRECT SHEAR TEST

10.0

PAGE NO.:
EDITION:
REVIEW NO.:
EFFECTIVE
DATE:
AMENDMENT
DATE:

10/10

3/01/12
3/01/12

QUESTIONS AND ANSWER

QUESTION 1
a. Why perforated plate in this test has a tooth?
b. What is the maximum value of displacement before terminating the test?
QUESTION 2
a. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a direct shear test?
b. Why do we use fixing screws in this test? What will happen if you do not remove them
during the test?

ANSWERS