3rd International Symposium on Cone Penetration Testing, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - 2014

Axial and torsional axisymmetric laboratory interface shear tests for

CPT attachment studies
A. Martinez & J.D. Frost
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

ABSTRACT: During the last two decades there has been an important change from single-reading to
multiple-reading tests in site characterization practice, which is exemplified by the transition from SPT
to CPT. In the same vein, the next generation of a family of multi-sleeve devices that seeks to improve
soil characterization and pile design using data from CPT with axial and torsional loading capabilities is
described. As part of the development of this device, a series of axial and torsional axisymmetric interface shear laboratory tests between CPT sleeves with varying roughnesses and sands of different angularity were performed and are presented in this paper, along with a study of the characteristics of the shear
zones created in both loading directions. Finally, micro-mechanical processes that help understand the
differences in both test modes are proposed.

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Current practice in in-situ interface testing
The evolution in geotechnical site characterization practice has consisted of moving from singlereading to multiple reading devices in order to maximize efficiency and extract more information out
of one sounding. Furthermore, devices that reduce the uncertainty and those that offer a strong theoretical background for the interpretation of the measurements into engineering quantities are becoming increasingly attractive. This is exemplified by the transition from the Standard Penetration Test (SPT) to
the Cone Penetration Test (CPT) during the last two decades. In the same vein, a series of multi-sleeve
attachments for the CPT device have been developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology that seek to
improve soil characterization and pile design. These multi-sleeve attachments are designed to be placed
behind a 15 cm2 CPT probe and they take into consideration the effects of surface roughness and different shearing directions in order to characterize in-situ the interface behavior and strength of soilinclusion interface systems. Furthermore, they offer the advantage of reducing lateral variability and
maximizing the information obtained from each CPT sounding.
1.2 Multi sleeve attachments for CPT exploration
The first generation of multi-sleeve attachments, the Multi-Sleeve Friction Attachment (MFA) (DeJong,
2001, DeJong and Frost, 2002) consists of four additional friction sleeve sensor positions which are typically equipped with sleeves of different roughness. Figure 1 presents the staggered diamond texture pattern that is used to control the surface roughness of the friction sleeves. Roughness changes are achieved
by changing the height of the diamond elements, H. The width, w, penetration angle, , diagonal spacing, s and texture angle of the diamonds, , are kept constant. The MFA makes it possible to obtain in179

situ the bilinear relationship between interface strength and surface roughness (Uesugi and Kishida,
1986) with only one sounding. Furthermore, when equipped with heavily textured sleeves, the MFA can
provide a direct measurement of the shear strength of the soil. The second generation of devices, the
Multi-Sleeve Piezo-Friction Attachment (MPFA) (Hebeler, 2005, Hebeler and Frost, 2006, Frost, et. al.
2012) includes five additional pore pressure transducers, located before and after each friction sleeve,
which allow to obtain a more robust soil classification and to include the measurements of each friction
sleeve into the effective stress framework.
The third generation, the Multi-Sleeve Piezo-Friction-Torsion Attachment (MPFTA) (Frost and Martinez 2013, Martinez and Frost, 2014) has the added capability of measuring the soil response to torsional shearing which provides additional information regarding the soil behavior and an enhanced characterization of the interface response. This paper presents a series of axial and torsional axisymmetric
shear laboratory tests between sleeves of different roughness and sands of different angularity, along
with a study of the characteristics of the shear zones created in both loading directions.
Note: Schematic is a planar projection of the
cylindrical sleeve surface

Note: Schematic is a planar projection of the cylindrical sleeve surface.

s
S

W
W

a)

of Penetration
Direction oDirection
f Penetration

Increasing Surface Roughness

Passthrough
Passthrough

H
H

c)

b)

d)

Figure 1. Friction sleeve texture, a) schematic of texture where the diamond height, H, is changed in order to
change the surface roughness b) photograph of friction sleeves c) cross-section of smooth CPT sleeve d) crosssection of textured sleeve (adapted from DeJong, 2001 and Hebeler, 2004).

2 AXISYMMETRIC AXIAL AND TORSIONAL INTERFACE TESTING

2.1 Testing setup
The interface shear tests presented in this study were performed with sands of different angularity
sheared against smooth and textured CPT friction sleeves. Medium sized sub-rounded (Ottawa 20-30)
and sub-angular (Blasting 20-30) sands were used for all tests, along with smooth sleeves that comply
with the standards in ASTM D5778 and textured sleeves with diamond heights from 0.25 mm to 2.00
mm. All tests were performed under a confining pressure of 50 kPa and a shearing rate of 5 mm/min. All
specimens were prepared at relative densities between 60% and 65% by a combined pouring and dry
tamping method. Layers of colored sand were incorporated to facilitate shear zone identification.
2.2 Axisymmetric interface shear device
The testing device consists of a cylindrical rigid steel chamber that allows different levels of confining
stress to be applied to the soil specimen via air pressure. A latex membrane and a layer of geotextile allow for uniform lateral pressure to be applied to the specimen. Figure 2 presents a schematic of the geometry and test configuration of both axial and torsional test devices. In the axial configuration, a steel
rod equipped with an interchangeable friction sleeve is pushed up vertically by a worm gear motor. A
load cell located between the steel rod and the motor measures the force and an LVDT located at the top
of the rod measures the displacement. The torsional configuration consists of a stepper motor that rotates
the steel rod. A torque cell located between the steel rod and the motor measures the torque and an
RVDT connected to the upper shaft of the motor measures the angular displacement.
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Figure 2. Schematic of axisymmetric device for a) axial tests and b) torsional tests (adapted from Hebeler, 2005)

3 RESULTS
3.1 Interface shear load-displacement curves
Axial and torsional interface shear tests were performed with the goal of quantifying the effect of the
sleeve surface roughness, grain angularity and shearing direction on the magnitude and shape of load
displacement curves. The results from this study agree well with research from previous authors (Potyondy, 1961, Lee, 1998), which showed that the soils shear strength and the continuum surface roughness are among the controlling factors for the interface strength in soil-inclusion systems.
The tests performed in the axial shearing direction are shown in Figures 3a and 3b. A clear increasing
trend is observed between the measured load on the sleeve and the height of the diamond elements. Furthermore, the effect of grain angularity, or soil internal shear strength, is evident, with larger loads being
measured for the tests performed with sub-angular sand and textured sleeves. Similar trends are observed in the tests performed in the torsional shearing direction, shown in Figures 3c and 3d, with increasing surface roughness and angularity resulting into larger measured loads. The axial and torsional
tests performed with smooth CPT sleeves resulted in smallest measured loads and were not affected by
grain angularity.

a)

b)

c)

d)

Figure 3: Load-displacement curves a) axial direction on sub-rounded sand b) axial on sub-angular c) torsional on
sub-rounded d) torsional on sub-angular

The average residual loads, taken as the average load from 50 mm to 60 mm of displacement from the
load-displacement curves, are shown in Figure 4a for both shearing directions and sands tested. It can be
seen that the average residual loads are greater for tests with sub-angular sand for both shearing directions, resulting in similar measured loads. For tests with sub-rounded sand, the axial tests resulted in
larger measured loads. Furthermore, it can be noted that the loads measured for tests with a smooth CPT
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sleeve are very similar in magnitude, with little to no effect from grain angularity and shearing direction.
This agrees with the previous understanding that interface shear tests against smooth surfaces, such as
the conventional CPT sleeves, are more representative of sliding whereas rougher surfaces, such as the
textured sleeves, are capable of inducing shear within the adjacent soil mass (Hebeler, 2005, Frost and
DeJong, 2005). Also, this agrees with previous studies showing that shearing direction does not affect
the measured loads when smooth CPT sleeves are used (Martinez and Frost, 2014). Figure 4b shows the
normalized average residual load, defined as the ratio of the average residual load from a test with a given sleeve roughness to the average residual load from a test with a smooth CPT sleeve. In this plot, a
normalized residual load value of unity reflects a pure sliding failure mechanism between the sand and
the sleeve, and larger values represent larger influence of soil shearing. Normalizing the loads separates
the values of the axial and torsional tests with sub-angular sands from each other, resulting into larger
normalized residual loads for the torsional direction.

a)

b)

Figure 4. a) Average residual loads and b) average normalized residual (loadtextured

function of diamond height.

sleeve/loadsmooth CPT sleeve)

as a

3.2 Study of axial and torsional shear zone behavior

A series of tests with the objective of quantifying the characteristics of shear zones formed during axial
and torsional tests were performed on sub-rounded sand. In order to do this, the method proposed by
Juang and Holtz (1986) for resin-cemented specimens was followed. In summary, the sand was mixed
with a powder phenolic resin (1% by weight) that has no significant effect on the mechanical characteristics of the sand. After the test is completed, the specimen is heated in order to melt the powder phenolic resin, which acts as a glue that holds the sand matrix together. After the phenolic resin hardens, then it
is possible to dissect the specimen and expose vertical planes in order to take measurements. Figure 5
shows pictures of exposed shear zones from axial and torsional shear tests with colored sand layers
against conventional CPT and textured sleeves. Once the shear zones are exposed, several measurements
of shear zone thicknesses and lengths are performed.

Thickness

a)

b)

Length

c)

d)

Figure 5. Shear zones developed during a) axial test with a conventional CPT sleeve b) axial test with a textured
sleeve (after Hebeler, 2005) c) torsional test with a conventional CPT sleeve and d) torsional test with a textured
sleeve.

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Figure 6 shows the values of shear zone thickness and length from torsional tests performed against a
textured sleeve of diamond height of 1.00 mm at different displacements. The results include measurements along the top of the diamond elements and along the passthrough areas (defined in Figure 1), as
well as the average. It can be concluded that the staggered diamond texture pattern of the friction sleeves
creates relatively uniform shear zones. It can also be observed that the shear zone thickness, normalized
by the D50 of the sand, increases to a value of approximately 5.1 for displacements of about 9 mm. Subsequent increases in displacement result in a modest increase to up to a value of 6.0 times D50 of the
sand. This implies that displacements of 9 mm are needed in order to fully develop the shear zone thickness. Figure 6b shows a linear relationship between the shear zone length and the displacement.

a)

b)

Figure 6. a) Shear zone thickness and b) length as a function of displacement for tests performed with subrounded sand and textured sleeves of diamond height, H, of 1.00 mm

A comparison of the shear zone characteristics is presented in Figure 7. The shear zone thickness for the
axial direction is slightly larger, with a maximum value of 6.9 D50, as compared to a maximum value of
5.9 for the torsional direction. However, the behavior and progression of the shear zone thickness is very
similar for both shearing directions. The shear zone length for torsional shearing was significantly larger
for all diamond heights, reaching a stable condition at a diamond height of 1.00 mm with a value of
about 42% of the total displacement of the friction sleeve. The shear zone length values for the axial direction also reach a stable condition at a diamond height of 0.50 mm, with a significantly lower value of
about 14% of the total displacement. It is proposed that this difference in shear zone length reflects the
different mechanisms involved in the measurements of each test configuration. The next section of this
paper discusses these mechanisms.

a)

b)

Figure 7. Axial and torsional tests a) shear zone thickness b) shear zone length (axial test data form Hebeler,
2005).

4 INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
4.1 Shearing micro-mechanisms
The two forces that contribute towards the sleeve load measurements during interface shear tests in both
loading directions have been identified. In axial tests the force measurements consists of the Interface
Friction force (IF), originated by the friction between the sleeve and the soil particles, and the Annular
Penetration force (AP), caused by the difference in diameters between the steel rod and the protruding
diamond texturing elements. It has been previously shown that the AP force is proportional to the tip re183

sistance reading of conventional CPT testing (Hebeler, et al., 2004). In torsional tests the force measurements consists of the same IF force observed in the axial configuration and the Tangential Component force (TC) that is originated by the displacement of particles in a tangential direction. The force
components are shown in Figure 8, along with the direction in which they act.

Figure 8: Force components acting on friction sleeves during interface shear tests.

Figure 9 presents a proposed mechanism that can explain the difference in behavior observed in Figure
7b. Shearing in the axial direction imposes loads (IF and AP components) that act parallel to the direction of shearing in the vicinity of the sleeve, as shown on Figure 8. In contrast, torsional shearing transfers load in two different directions. The IF component transfers load in the same direction as the angular displacement while the TC acts in a tangential direction, potentially displacing sand grains away
from the sleeve. The difference in shear zone length comes from the higher possibility of excessive particle rotation in axial shearing, especially for rounded or sub-rounded sands. In this case, the particles
moving parallel to the friction sleeve transfer load to the adjacent particles, which might start rotating
but might not translate, and remain in the same position. During torsional shearing, particles are less
likely to rotate without displacing because the TC is constantly pushing particles away from the sleeve,
forcing them to displace and resulting into a longer shear zone.

Figure 9. Mechanisms for shear zone formation in the a) axial and b) torsional directions. The small arrows represent the direction of the displacement components and the labels in red are the abbreviations of the force component causing the displacement; IF = Interface Friction Force, AP = Annular Penetration Force and TC = Tangential Force Component.

4.2 Effect of sand angularity on load-displacement curves

Sensitivity was used to compare the effects of grain angularity on the shape and behavior of the loaddisplacement curves presented in Figures 4a to 4d. The sensitivity is defined as the ratio of the peak to
average residual load, and the results are presented in Figure 10. It can be seen that the sensitivity is
larger for the torsional loading direction for both sands. Furthermore, the tests performed on subrounded sand (Figure 10a) show a linear decreasing trend between sensitivity and diamond height. This
trend is not observed in the tests performed with sub-angular sand (Figure 10b) where the sensitivity remains approximately constant. The cause of this behavior difference might be the increased resistance to
particle rotation imposed by the angular grains. These results agree with previous Discrete Element
Model studies (Bardet, 1994, Wang, et al, 2004) that showed a larger sensitivity (i.e. strain softening) for
simulations that involved particle rotation restriction, compared to simulations that allowed for free par184

ticle rotations. In the present experimental study, the particle rotation resistance for the angular grains
acts in a similar manner as the particle rotation restriction in DEM simulations.

a)

b)

Figure 10. Load-displacement curves sensitivity for a) sub-rounded and b) sub-angular sands.

4.3 Effect of shearing direction on load-displacement curves

The magnitude of strain softening also was found to be a useful quantity to compare the loaddisplacement curves in different shearing directions. The strain softening values as a function of diamond height are presented in Figure 11 for both sands. The magnitude of the strain softening is consistenly larger for torsional tests. It can also be observed that two different trends are followed by the axial and torsional tests. In the axial case, the magnitude of strain softening increases up to a diamond
height of about 0.50 mm, and subsequent increases in diamond height result in no further change to the
amount of strain softening. In the torsional case, the magnitude of strain softening keeps increasing, at a
lower rate, even after a diamond height of 0.50 mm. This difference in behavior is believed to be caused
by the loading mechanisms presented in Figures 8 and 9, which are related to the difference in displacement directions caused by both test modes. These results also agree well with the DEM simulations by
Bardet (1994) and Wang, et al., (2004) discussed in the previous section. In the case of the present
study, the torsional shearing direction results in a larger degree of particle rotation resistance than the
axial direction, which leads to larger strain-softening values. Furthermore, the continuous increase in
strain softening with increasing diamond height observed in torsional tests is associated with higher diamond elements having a larger area of influence resulting into more sand particles being displaced in a
tangential direction away from the sleeve.

Figure 11. Strain softening as a function of diamond height for axial and torsional shearing directions and subrounded and sub-angular sands.

5 CONCLUSIONS
Results of a series of axisymmetric interface shear tests in the axial and torsional directions between
smooth and textured CPT sleeves and sub-rounded and sub-angular sands reveal that the loads measured
during tests performed against conventional smooth CPT sleeves are independent of the shear strength
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of the sand and the loading direction. The tests with textured sleeve resulted in larger loads with increasing surface roughness and sand angularity.
Tests on resin-impregnated specimens showed that the shear zone thickness for torsional tests is fully
developed at very low displacements, while the shear zone length follows a linear relationship with displacement. Also, it was shown that the shear zone thickness is similar for both axial and torsional loading directions, with a value between 6 and 7 times D50. The shear zone length was found to be significantly larger for torsional shear zones. The proposed mechanism influencing this is a larger resistance to
particle rotation during torsional shear tests.
The sensitivity of the load-displacement curves of tests performed on sub-rounded sand was found to
decrease with increasing diamond height, whereas the sensitivity for tests on sub-angular sand remained
approximately constant. This is attributed to the larger interlocking and particle rotation resistance associated with sub-angular sands. Furthermore, the magnitude of strain softening of the load-displacement
curves was found to be consistently larger for torsional tests, which is attributed to the larger rotation resistance during this testing mode. These results agree well with DEM simulations by other authors that
observed a larger degree of sensitivity (i.e. strain softening) when particle rotations were restricted.
6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research work of the first author is supported in part by the Goizueta Foundation Fellowship and the
QEA Anchor Scholarship. The phenolic resin was provided by Plastics Engineering Company (Plenco).
This support is gratefully acknowledged.
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