CE 416

GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING 1:
FOUNDATION ENGINEERING
(CE – 4204)

Laboratory Report No. 1

(Pre-lab)
DIRECT SHEAR TEST

Lab. Date: March 8, 2019

Lab. Group: Group 3
Lab Members:
Banadera, John Francis R.
Cuenca, Denise Ann D.
Gaba, Jose Henderson P.
Mandocdoc, Clarissa Abigail
Mayuga, Katrina Nicole C.
Valencia, Federica S.
I. 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.
In many engineering problems such as design of foundation, retaining walls,
slab bridges, pipes, sheet piling, the value of the angle of internal friction and
cohesion of the soil involved are required for the design. Direct shear test is
used to predict these parameters quickly. The laboratory report covers the
laboratory procedures for determining these values for cohesionless soils.

II. OBJECTIVE
At the end of the experiment the students were able to:
- Determine the shearing strength of the soil using the direct shear
apparatus
- Determine the parameter of shear strength of soil, cohesion, c and angle
of friction, ø.

III. MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENTS

1. Shear box carriage
2. Loading pad
3. Perforated plate
4. Porous plate
5. Retaining plate
6. Grease

IV. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

1. Internal measurement is verified by using Vernier calipers. The length of the

sides, L and the overall depth, B.
 2. Base plate is fixed inside the shear box. Then porous plate is put on the base
plate. Perforated grid plate is fitted over porous so that the grid plates should be
at right angles to the direction shear.
3. Two halves of the shear box are fixed by means of fixing screws.
4. For cohesive soils, the soil sample is transferred from square specimen cutter to
the shear box by pressing down on the top grid plate. For sandy soil, compact
the soil in layers to the required density in shear box.
5. Mount the shear box assembly on the loading frame.
6. The dial is set of the proving ring to zero
7. The loading yoke is placed on the loading pad and carefully lift the hanger onto
the top of the loading yoke.
8. The correct loading is applied to the hanger pad.
9. Carefully, the screws clamping the upper half is removed to the lower half.
10. The test is conducted by applying horizontal shear load to failure. Rate strain
should be 0.2mm/min.
11. Readings of horizontal is recorded and force dial gauges at regular intervals.
12. Conduct test on three identical soil samples under different vertical compressive
stresses, 1.75kg, 2.5kg and 3.2kg

V. RAW DATA
SAMPLE # 1
AREA: __________
DISPLACEMENT PROVING RING SHEAR STRAIN
STRESS
DIAL ∆L DIAL Load, P (x 10-6)
2
GAUGE GAUGE (kN) (KN/m )
(mm)
SAMPLE # 2
AREA: __________
DISPLACEMENT PROVING RING SHEAR STRAIN
STRESS
DIAL ∆L DIAL Load, P (x 10-6)
GAUGE GAUGE (kN) (KN/m2)
(mm)
SAMPLE # 3
AREA: __________
DISPLACEMENT PROVING RING SHEAR STRAIN
STRESS
DIAL ∆L DIAL Load, P (x 10-6)
GAUGE GAUGE (kN) (KN/m2)
(mm)

VI. REFERENCE
Braja M. Das, Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering. Fifth
Edition. SI Edition. Cengage Learning.