• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.607-614
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• 2010

Shear behavior of granular soils largely affects the safety and stability of underground and earth structures. This study presents the characteristics of shear zone in a direct shear test using shear wave and electrical resistivity measurements. An innovative direct shear box made of transparent acrylic material has been developed to prevent direct electric current. Bender elements and electrical resistivity probe are embedded in the wall of direct shear box to estimate the shear wave velocities and the electrical resistivity at the shear and non-shear zones. Experimental results show that the void ratio and shear wave velocity at shear zone increase during shearing while the values remain constant at non-shear zone. The results demonstrate correlation among the contact force, small strain shear modulus, and void ratio at shear zone. This study suggests that the application of the modified direct shear box including shear wave and electrical resistivity measurements may become an effective tool for analyzing soil behavior at shear zone.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.461-472
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• 2023

A box scale affects the shear behavior of soils in the direct shear test. The purpose of this study is to investigate the scale effect on the shear behavior of dilative granular materials by testing specimens of different heights placed in a type C shear box. Experimental tests were performed on specimens composed of glass beads with different heights and equal initial void ratios. Results showed that the peak friction and dilation angles linearly increased with the specimen height; however, the residual friction angle remained relatively constant. Similarly, the shear stiffness increased with the specimen height, rapidly reaching its peak state. Height does not have a significant effect on the total volume changes; nevertheless, a high aspect ratio can be assumed to result in global and homogeneous failure. The results and interpretations may be used as reference for recommending shear box scale in direct shear tests.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.51-62
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• 2015

Shear behavior obtained by direct shear tests is dependent on shear box and boundary condition. The objective of this study is to analyze problems of conventional direct shear test (type-A) and provide the reliable results by developing type-C direct shear apparatus. Experimental tests are carried out for Ulleung sand by using type-A and -C direct shear devices. The soil specimens, which are prepared at the relative density of 60%, and are applied to vertical confining stresses of 50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 kPa, are sheared at a constant shear strain rate of 0.5 mm/min. By comparing the results obtained by type-A and -C direct shear apparatus under constant normal load (CNL) condition, the performance of new one is verified. In addition, two constrained conditions including constant normal load (CNL) and constant pressure (CP) are applied to type-C one. Experimental results show that type-A direct shear apparatus has some problems such as rotating of loading plate and upper shear box, and the frictional forces between soil and inner wall of upper shear box. Thus, the shear strengths obtained by type-A device are overestimated or underestimated depending on shear box and boundary condition. On the other hand, type-C device produces clear and consistent test results regardless of constrained conditions. This study represents that type-C direct shear apparatus not only can solve the problems of type-A direct shear apparatus but provide the reliable results.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.5-14
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• 2017

Experimental study on strength characteristics of frozen soils is necessary for the safety evaluation of design and construction in cold region. The objective of this study is to evaluate the direct shear strength of frozen soils obtained from traditional system (Type-1), system with roller on the upper shear box (Type-2), and system with fixed upper shear box separated from bottom shear box (Type-3). Specimens mixed with sand, silt, and water are frozen to $-5^{\circ}C$, and then direct shear tests are conducted under the normal stress of 5, 10, 25, and 50 kPa. Experimental results show that the upper shear box of Type-1 touches the bottom shear box due to the rotation of the upper shear box. The shear strength obtained from Type-2 is overestimated because the preventing rotation force is added to shear force. Type-3 may acquire the only strength of the specimen, and shear strain at peak shear strength is similar to that at the beginning of vertical displacement occurrence. In addition, internal friction angle and cohesion at both peak and residual stresses in Type-3 are smaller than those of Type-2. This study shows that high strength specimens including frozen soils can be effectively evaluated using improved shear box system such as Type-3.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.475-486
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• 2023

Ballast particles have an irregular shape and are discrete in nature. Due to the discrete nature of ballast, it exhibits complex mechanical behaviour under loading conditions. The discrete element method (DEM) can model the behaviour of discrete particles under a multitude of loading conditions. DEM is used in this paper to simulate a series of three-dimensional direct shear tests in order to investigate the shear behaviour of railway ballast and its interaction at the microscopic level. Particle flow code in three dimension (PFC3D) models the irregular shape of ballast particles as clump particles. To investigate the influence of particle size distribution (PSD), real PSD of Indian railway ballast specification IRS:GE:1:2004, China high-speed rail (HSR) and French rail specifications are generated. PFC3D built-in linear contact model is used to simulate the interaction of ballast particles under various normal stresses, shearing rate and shear box sizes. The results indicate how shear resistance and volumetric changes in ballast assembly are affected by normal stress, shearing rate, PSD and shear box size. In addition to macroscopic behaviour, DEM represents the microscopic behaviour of ballast particles in the form of particle displacement at different stages of the shearing process.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.125-139
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• 1999

It is difficult to evaluate the shear strength of weathered residual soils because of the difficulties of undisturbed sampling. In this study, a sampling device, direct shear box with shoe, was developed in order to get undisturbed samples easily for direct shear tests, and undisturbed samples could be successfully obtained. Through direct shear tests on undisturbed samples, the shear strength was evaluated with the variation of saturated conditions. In order to consider the effect of disturbance on the shear strength, a static compaction device was developed, and then it was found that undisturbed samples show greater shear strengths than the disturbed ones under natural water contents and similar strengths to the ones under soaked conditions. Further, the shear strength evaluated from direct shear tests was compared with the result of triaxial tests on undisturbed samples, and soaked strengths of the former were similar to the latter. As the result of stability analyses on an actual failed slope, it was found that the shear strength can be evaluated reasonably using direct shear box with shoe.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1999.03a
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• pp.423-430
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• 1999

A weathered residual soil is a soil-like material derived from the in situ weathering and decomposition of rock which has not been transported from its original location. Undisturbed sampling of residual soils is extremely difficult, which has an important effect on investigating the strength and compression characteristics. Thus, a special undisturbed sampling device (direct shear box with shoe) was developed and undisturbed samples were successfully obtained for direct shear tests, Direct shear testing was conducted under unsoaked and soaked condition. As a result, the shear strength of soaked samples was less than that of unsoaked samples, and it was verified that direct shearing of undisturbed samples can evaluate reasonably the shear strength and the slope stability.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.574-593
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• 2023

In this study, the effectiveness and applicability of a newly designed Compact CNS shear box for conducting direct shear tests on jointed rock specimens were investigated. CNS joint shear tests were conducted on jointed rocks with Artificially generated roughness while varying the fracture surface roughness coefficient and initial normal stress conditions. In addition, displacement data were validated by Digital image correlation analysis, fracture patterns were observed, and comparative analysis was conducted with previously studied shear behavior prediction models. Furthermore, the accuracy of the displacement data was confirmed through DIC analysis, the fracture patterns were observed, and the shear properties obtained from the tests were compared with existing models that predict shear behavior. The findings exhibited a strong correlation with specific established empirical models for predicting shear behavior. Furthermore, the potential linkage between the characteristics of shear behavior and fracture patterns was deliberated. In conclusion, the CNS shear box was shown to be applicable and effective in providing data on the shear characteristics of the joint.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.145-154
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• 2003

When a nail pulled out in dense, granular soil, the soil in the vicinity of the nail tends to dilate, but its dilatancy results in a normal stress concentration at the soil/nail interface, thereby increasing the pull-out resistance of the inclusion. It is thought to be occurring within the resistance zone where the soil mass is at stationary state and the reinforcement are held in position by the soil, due to the friction or bond. In this paper, A series of direct shear and interface tests were conducted by using so called‘Constant Normal Stiffness Test Apparatus’which was modified and improved from the conventional direct shear box test rig. Unlikely the normal shear box test, this enables to simulate the different constraint effects of surrounding soil during shear under the conditions of constant stress and volume, constant normal stiffness. The aim of the research programme is to get better understanding of pull-out bond mechanism, thus to explore the possibility of evaluating the pull-out bond capacity of soil/reinforcement at the preliminary design stage from the laboratory test.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.387-398
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• 2018

The present study evaluates the interface shear strength between sand and different construction materials, namely steel and concrete, using direct shear test apparatus. The influence of surface roughness, mean size of sand particles, relative density of sand and size of the direct shear box on the interface shear behavior of sand with steel and concrete has been investigated. Test results show that the surface roughness of the construction materials significantly influences the interface shear strength. The peak and residual interface friction angles increase rapidly up to a particular value of surface roughness (critical surface roughness), beyond which the effect becomes negligible. At critical surface roughness, the peak and residual friction angles of the interfaces are 85-92% of the peak and residual internal friction angles of the sand. The particle size of sand (for morphologically identical sands) significantly influences the value of critical surface roughness. For the different roughness considered in the present study, both the peak and residual interaction coefficients lie in the range of 0.3-1. Moreover, the peak and residual interaction coefficients for all the interfaces considered are nearly identical, irrespective of the size of the direct shear box. The constitutive modeling of different interfaces followed the experimental investigation and it successfully predicted the pre-peak, peak and post peak interface shear response with reasonable accuracy. Moreover, the predicted stress-displacement relationship of different interfaces is in good agreement with the experimental results. The findings of the present study may also be applicable to other non-yielding interfaces having a similar range of roughness and sand properties.