Soil Shearing Equipment and Accuracy of Investigation Results

Civil engineering works require strength and stability. Soil subbase strength parameters, ie cohesion and the angle of internal friction are used in calculations. They are experimentally determined parameters. Determination of soil strength parameters by shearbox apparatus is being legalised by standards and used along with triaxial equipment in the USA, England, Austria, Russia, Lithuania and many other countries. Accuracy of investigation results depends on the construction of soil shearing apparatus. Soil stress on shearing plane should be registrated during the test, undisturbed soil structure should be preserved before shearing is started, friction between soil and parts of shearing apparatus should be avoided and constant shear rate assured during the whole test. Schemes of shearing apparatus presented in literature and standards show their inability of avoiding all the conditions mentioned above. The report presents ways of improving soil shearing equipment, which leads to a more precise investigation of soil shear strength parameters.

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