Effect of Sample Size on TDA Shear Strength Parameters in Direct Shear Tests

Author(s):  
Khaled Zahran ◽  
Hany El Naggar

Tire-derived aggregate (TDA), a relatively new construction material, has been gaining acceptance as a backfill material for embankments, trenches, and earth-retaining structures because of its lightweight and excellent geotechnical properties. Type A TDA has a basic geometric shape, with particles approximately 12 to 100 mm in size. As a result of the simplicity and accuracy of the direct shear test, most laboratories choose this test in preference to more complex tests. However, TDA requires large-scale direct shear apparatus because of the consistently large size of its particles, and few facilities own this type of apparatus. Depending on the shear box dimensions, the aspect ratio of the particle size to the box dimensions may lead to variations in the shear strength results of the sample being evaluated. This research focuses on studying the effect of TDA sample size on the shear strength results of direct shear tests by using five different shear box sizes. The findings show that the angle of internal friction increases slightly as the dimensions of the shear box decrease. It was found that the maximum variation in the angle of internal friction and the cohesion results of the different shear boxes was only 1.9° and 2.4 kPa, respectively. These differences should be taken into consideration when TDA shear test results are used in the geotechnical design. It is recommended that a shear box with an aspect ratio (W/Dmax) greater than or equal to 4 should be used when evaluating the shear strength parameters of TDA.

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 12003
Author(s):  
Leila Maria Coelho de Carvalho ◽  
Michelé Dal Toé Casagrande

Inclusion of natural fibers (sisal, curauá, coco fiber and others) for soil improvement has been the study object in diverse geotechnical areas and it is a topic of growing interest, within the research area of new geotechnical materials. The state of the art in this subject highlights excellent results as soil strength parameters improve and post-cracking strength (toughness) increase. Soil reinforcement technique with fibers is established in the technology of composite materials, this being a combination of two or more materials presenting properties that the component materials do not possess on their own. The aim of this paper is to study the mechanical behaviour of sand-fiber composite by inserting natural curauá fibers into a sandy matrix, with different fiber contents. The fibers were randomly distributed in the soil mass. The experimental program included physical and mechanical characterization of the composites, using full-scale direct shear tests, with samples measuring 30 x 30 cm and 15 cm high. Direct shear tests were carried out using fibers with 25 mm length and 0.5 and 0.75% fiber content (relative to the soil dry weight). The specimens also presented a relative density of 50% and moisture content of 10%. It was sought to establish a pattern behaviour so that the addition of curauá fiber influence can be explained, thus, comparing with the sandy soil shear strength parameters. Inclusion of natural curauá fibers as soil reinforcement presented satisfactory results, as an increase in the soil shear strength parameters was observed when compared with sandy soil results.


2013 ◽  
Vol 709 ◽  
pp. 579-582
Author(s):  
Meng Hua Fan

It is difficult to determine the Mohr-Coulomb failure envelope visually, and it is strongly influenced by abnormal test data evaluating the shear strength parameters of soil via trend line and unable to adjust the scope of permissible error. So it is recommended to evaluate shear strength parameters of soil using Solver of Excel for direct shear tests and triaxial tests and you can control the allowable deviation. The mathematics model of nonlinear programming was established to evaluate shear strength parameters of soil from the results of direct shear test and triaxial shear test. The related Excel worksheet was created and the optimum results of the objective function were obtained by setting the Solver parameters dialog box accurately. The method is simple, inexpensive and rapid.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 183-188
Author(s):  
Peng He ◽  
Liuying Sun ◽  
Zhen Wang

The present study focuses on some tentative laboratory tests using a newly-constructed modified direct shear test apparatus. The single-stage and multistage direct shear tests were performed to determine the shear rate and test scheme of unsaturated shear test. Shear strength parameters of unsaturated soil in different conditions are obtained and the tests indicate good agreement with typical theories of unsaturated soil, the nonlinear matric suction failure envelope is determined. Some shear strength equations are also fitted through the experimental results. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 857 ◽  
pp. 212-220
Author(s):  
Mohammed Sh. Mahmood ◽  
Waseem H. Al-Baghdadi ◽  
Asaad M. Rabee ◽  
Suhad H. Almahbobi

Accurate prediction of the soil shear strength parameters is essential in the reliable geotechnical design of civil engineering structures. This recent paper investigates the effect of the dry testing condition on the shear strength parameters of the sandy soil using the direct shear apparatus and compared with the saturated condition tests in previous researches on the same soil. The dry soil, usually above the water table, is the principal condition of the Al-Najaf city soil in Iraq. Samples are selected from the site of the University of Kufa, which represents the sandy soil of the city. For reliability purposes, the soil is exposed to different pre-soaking durations (one, two, and four weeks) then air-dried for shear tests. The main results revealed that the angle of internal friction (Φ) tested as a dry sample decreases about -6% up to two-weeks soaking then recovered upon four-week soaking about +6%. Compared to the saturated testing, there are increases in F between 6%-17% from saturated tests. Finally, it is recommended to aware in the selection of testing conditions for calculations of the angle of internal friction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Mohammad Afrazi ◽  
Mahmoud Yazdani

Many geotechnical problems require the determination of soil engineering properties such as shear strength. Therefore, the determination of the reliable values for this parameter is essential. For this purpose, the direct shear test, as one of the oldest tests to examine the shear strength of soils, is the most common way in laboratories to determine the shear parameters of soil. There are far too many variables that influence the results of a direct shear test. In this paper, a series of 10 × 10 cm direct shear tests were carried out on four different poorly graded sands with different particle size distributions to determine their shear behaviors. Four different poorly graded sands with a different median diameter or medium value of particle size distribution (D50) (0.2, 0.53, 1.3, and 2.3 mm) has been selected, and about 40 direct shear tests were conducted. It was concluded that a soil’s friction angle is affected by coarse-grained material. Accordingly, sandy soils with bigger particle sizes record a higher friction angle than soils containing small particles. The investigations also showed that sand with bigger particle sizes has a higher dilation angle. In addition, a non-linear regression analysis was performed to establish the exact relationship between the friction angle of the soil and the characteristics of the soil particles. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited.


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