INTRODUCTION

A direct shear test is a laboratory or field test used by geotechnical

engineers to measure the shear strength properties of soil or rock material
or of discontinuities in soil or rock masses. The test is performed on three
or four specimens from a relatively undisturbed soil sample. The test is
carried out on either undisturbed samples or remoulded samples. To
facilitate the remoulding purpose, a soil sample may be compacted at
optimum moisture content in a compaction mould. Then specimen for the
direct shear test could be obtained using the correct cutter provided.
Alternatively, sand sample can be placed in a dry state at a required
density in the assembled shear box. A normal load is applied to the
specimen and the specimen is sheared across the pre-determined
horizontal plane between the two halves of the shear box. Measurements
of shear load, shear displacement and normal displacement are recorded.
From the results, the shear strength parameter can be determined.

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. It used to
determine the shear strength of both cohesive as well as non-cohesive
soils according to ASTM D 3080.

THEORY
Shear strength is composed of:
1 Internal friction which is the resistance due to friction between
individual particles at their contact points and interlocking of
particles. This interlocking strength is indicated through parameter
.
2 Cohesion which resistances due to inter-particle force which tend
hold the particles together in a soil mass. The indicative parameter
is called Cohesion intercept (c).
The strength of a soil depends of its resistance to shearing stresses. It is
made up of basically the components :
1. Frictional due to friction between individual particles.
2. Cohesive - due to adhesion between the soil particles
The two components are combined in Coulombs shear strength equation,

=c+

tan

Where :

= shearing resistance of soil at failure

c = apparent cohesion of soil

= total normal stress on failure plane

= angle of shearing resistance of soil (angle of internal friction)

This equation can also be written in terms of effective stresses. Shear
strength of a soil is the maximum resistance to shearing stress at failure
on the failure plane.

Apparatus
1 Soil sample
2 Shear box equipment
3 Weight set

Procedure
1 Pushing a cutting ring of size 100 mm in diameter 200 mm of the
undisturbed specimen. The square specimen of size 60 mm x 60 mm is
then cut from the circular specimen obtained.
2 Carefully insert the test specimen. Place the loading block in place.
Position the horizontal and vertical displacement indicator. Apply
appropriate normal load.
3 By a gap about 1.0 mm, separate the upper and lower halves of the
shear box frames.
4 Remember to remove the locking screw.
5 The rate of the load should be on the order of 0.6 mm/s.
6 Stop the test apparatus when the shearing force has reached it failure.
7 Take reading of the load, shear displacement and vertical displacement
dials.
8 Back of the applied normal pressure, dismantle and clean the shear
box.
9 Repeat the test using differential load.

RESULT.
Data and Observation
Table 1: Proving ring calibration factor
WF No.

: 14120

Ring Number

: 15615

Capacity

: 2 kN

1 Division

: 0.002 mm

Load (kN)

Compression
(Division)

0.2

146

0.4

291

0.6

439

0.8

587

1.0

736

1.2

883

1.4

1033

1.6

1183

1.8

1335

2.0

1487

4kg
Shear
Displa
y Dial

Shear
Disp

Norm
al
Disp
dial

Norm
al
Disp

Providi
ng
Ring
dial

Shear
Force,
P

28
75
123
172

0.28
0.75
1.23
1.72

-6
-9
-8
-5.2

-0.06
-0.09
-0.08
-0.052

31
41
51
59

0.212
0.281
0.349
0.411

Crosssection
al
Area,
A
0.0036
0.0036
0.0036
0.0036

222

2.22

-0.5

-0.005 60

0.414

0.0036

274

2.74

0.06

75

0.514

0.0036

322

3.22

14

0.14

79

0.541

0.0036

375

3.75

23.5

0.235

80

0.548

0.0036

423

4.23

31

0.31

81

0.555

0.0036

474

4.74

38

0.38

80

0.548

0.0036

92
142

0.92
1.42

-11
-11.5

-0.11
46
-0.115 58

0.315
0.397

0.0036
0.0036

193

1.93

-10

-0.1

0.473

0.0036

Shear
Stress,
( )

Strain
,

58.980
78.006
97.032
112.25
3
132.15
5
142.69
4
150.30
4
152.20
7
154.11
0
152.20
7

0.005
0.013
0.021
0.029

87.519
110.35
0
131.27
9

0.015
0.024

0.037
0.046
0.054
0.063
0.071
0.079

6kg

69

0.027

198

1.98

-9.5

-0.095 70

0.489

0.0036

201

2.01

-9.3

-0.093 72

0.499

0.0036

215

2.15

-8.5

-0.085 73

0.500

0.0036

220

2.20

-7.6

-0.076 75

0.511

0.0036

234

2.34

-7.2

-0.072 77

0.518

0.0036

238

2.38

-7.0

-0.070 76

0.520

0.0036

240

2.40

-6.8

-0.068 77

0.530

0.0036

241

2.41

-6.5

-0.065 77

0.527

0.0036

291

2.91

-1.5

-0.015 85

0.582

0.0036

340

3.4

4.3

0.043

87

0.596

0.0036

390

3.9

11

0.11

89

0.610

0.0036

440

4.4

16.5

0.165

89

0.610

0.0036

491

4.91

22

0.22

89

0.610

0.0036

41

0.41

-8

-0.08

40

0.274

91

0.91

-6

-0.06

61

0.418

141

1.41

78.5

0.538

162

1.62

-11

-0.11

91

0.623

176

1.76

-11

-0.11

91.5

0.633

0.003
6
0.003
6
0.003
6
0.003
6
0.003
6

134.39
0
137.44
0
139.12
2
142.55
1
143.78
9
144.34
2
145.10
0
146.49
9
161.72
0
165.52
5
169.33
0
169.33
0
169.33
0

0.029

76.104

0.007

116.05
8
149.35
3
173.13
5
175.14
4

0.015

0.030
0.032
0.035
0.037
0.038
0.039
0.040
0.049
0.057
0.065
0.073
0.082

8kg

0.024
0.032
0.034

186

1.86

-12

-0.12

92

0.640

198

1.98

-13

-0.13

93

0.654

200

2.00

20

0.20

97

0.668

220

2.20

23

0.23

98

0.670

240

2.4

25

0.25

99

0.678

290

2.9

41

0.41

100

0.685

339

3.39

56

0.56

100

0.685

389

3.89

68

0.68

92

0.630

0.003
6
0.003
6
0.003
6
0.003
6
0.003
6
0.003
6
0.003
6
0.003
6

176.22
2
178.40
2
182.78
9
184.23
4
188.35
6
190.25
9
190.25
9
190.25
9

0.037
0.038
0.038
0.039
0.040
0.048
0.057
0.065

ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

Given data:
1. Specimen size (length x width) = 60 x 60mm
2. Test load = 4kg
3. Calibration factor = 0.0068
Cross-sect. area of specimen, A

Shear force, Ph

Normal stress
Area

Shear displacement

Normal displacement

Shear stress,

60 x 60

3600mm

3.6 x 10-3m

Proving ring dial x Calibration factor

31 x 0.0068

0.212kN

Load x acceleration by gravity,g /

4 x 9.81 / (3600 x 10-3)

10.9 kPa

Horizontal displacement

Shear displacement dial x 0.01mm

28 x 0.01mm

0.28mm

Vertical displacement

Normal disp. dials x 0.001mm

-6 x 0.001mm

-0.06 mm

Ph / A

0.212 kN/ (3.6 x 10-6 ) mm

Strain,

58.980 kPa

Shear displacement / length

0.28mm / 60mm

0.005

0.0011

Plot shearing stress at failure versus normal stress and show the angle of
internal friction, and intercept,c.
From equation of the graph we get, y = 5.5x + 42
The gradient of the best line is 5.5.
Therefore, tan = 5.5
=

tan 1

5.5

= 79.70
f = c + n tan
Where c is the interception of the above graph which is 42kPa.

DISCUSSION.
-

From the experiment, the value of that we get from the graph of
vs n is 79.70 while the c value is 42.
The value is get by considering the gradient of the graph and
using tangent find the angle of friction ( vs n) and the c value is
get at the interception of the graph with the y-axis. Since the value
can be find directly from the graph itself, this method is named as
DIRECT SHEAR TEST.
From the graph plotted, the standard pattern for the graph shear
stress versus normal stress should be linear that starts from origin,
however, in this experiment, it is not. This is may be due to error or
mistakes that been done doing the experiment.
The direct shear test is a laboratory test used to find the shear
strength parameters of an undisturbed soil sample. The shear
strength, f of a soil is a point where the soil starts to fail or displace
by the acting of external forces. The shear strength of a soil can be
expressed as following:
f = c + f tan
where c = shear strength parameters as cohesion intercept
and = angle of internal friction.

There are some errors occurs during the experiment. These

mistakes can be minimized by some precautions.
Before shearing a sample, check that the various alignment
pins or screws are properly set. The large pair of screws used
to align the shear box halves must be removed before
shearing the sample or you will also shear the pins. The other
set is used to create a thin gap between the top and bottom
halves. If this gap is too large, your sample will run out; if too
small, the top of the box will drag on the bottom.
During shear, there are two readouts to watch: horizontal
displacement and vertical displacement. One person should
be assigned to just read one dial gauge in order to avoid
mistakes. Therefore, there will be two person that will read
each horizontal and vertical dial gauge respectively. When
announced, the two person should quickly record the reading

Question :To conduct this experiment, we must prepare soil sample, shear box
equipment which is a square specimen of size 60mm x 60mm and weight
set. Firstly, we must put the upper and lower halves of the shear box

frame together and lock it. Then, we put 3 layers of soil sample in the
shear box which each of layer must be smooth surface with the help of
square holder. After that, we put the shear box in the shear box apparatus
to collect the reading data with different load apply which are 4kg, 6kg
and 8kg. Before we switch on the button, we must unlock the screws to
ensure the shearing force is going smoothly. We take shear, normal and
proving ring dial as a reading data for every minute until the reading is
constant or 3 drop readings.
1 What is the purpose of a direct shear test ? Which soil properties
does it measure ?
The purpose of a direct shear test is to determine the shear
parameters of a soil using shear box apparatus. The soil properties
that measure are cohesion, angle of internal friction and shear
modulus.
2 Can you predict what will happen if you dont remove the locking
screws during the test ?
The shearing process will be not going smoothly.
3 What is the purpose of the porous stone in the direct shear test ?
The specimen is located between 2 porous stones that serves as
drains during the first and second steps of the test. The surfaces of
contact between sample and porous stones are grooved, to prevent
slippage between sample and stones during shear.
4 List 4 possible errors that would cause inaccurate determinations of
strength and stress deformation characteristics.
a Parallax error which when we take reading data.
b The screws are lock when the shear box apparatus is in the
process
c Permeability of porous inserts too low
d Leakage of pore water out of specimen

CONCLUSION
We can conclude that our experiment meets the objective, which is
to find the angle of internal friction and the cohesion value for kaolin soil
type. From this test, the shear strength parameters are cohesion
intercept, c and the angle of shearing resistance, can be determined
using tangent formula. Therefore, this experiment is called DIRECT SHEAR
TEST which mean we can directly find the cohesion and angle of friction
value from the graph itself. The shear strength, f of a soil sample is also
called as the shear failure; where failure occurs when a critical
combination of shear stress and effective normal stress develop.