Spring Deformation Gauge for Measuring Local Deformations in Triaxial Apparatus

Local measurement of deformations of a soil specimen has become inevitable for accurate determination of soil stiffness in triaxial tests. Although there are now many devices that can be used to perform this task, each has its own advantages and limitations that render development of new devices with better desirable features. This paper presents an innovative device called spring deformation gauge (SDG) that has many advantages over many of the existing devices and can be readily manufactured in both research and commercial laboratories. The device is based on using a highly flexible, yet very strong metal strip of spring steel secured between two stiff, stainless steel L-shaped legs; the spring strip is provided with four strain gauges. With this arrangement, local deformation of a specimen is transferred into significant bending in the metal strip and elongation or shortening of the strain gauges. In addition to being very cost effective, the SDG is characterized by the ability to control both range and resolution of measured deformation, its linear output, and a clever pinning mechanism that protects it from being damaged when it goes out of range. Success of the SDG was demonstrated in a trueK₀test on carbonate sand.

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