Soil

Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia

SOIL MECHANICS EXPERIMENT REPORT

NAME : Safyra Nurshafiyana 1506712032

Fadel Muhammad 1506710241
Phan Para 1606971400
GROUP : PI – 2
DATE OF EXPERIMENT : April 16th, 2017
TITLE OF EXPERIMENT : Direct Shear Test
ASSISTANT : Feny Yuzanda
INITIAL & GRADE :

I. OBJECTIVE
Determine the cohesion value (c) and shear angle (φ) of a soil sample.

II. EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS

a. Equipment
• Direct Shear Test tool and Shear Box
• Load for 5 – 25 kg.
• 2 dial gauge for proving dial and horizontal dial.
• Specimen cutter to cut the cohesive soil sample.
• Tamper to compact the cohesion-less soil.
• Scale with 0,01 gram accuracy.
• Venier calipers with 0,01 accuracy
• Stopwatch
• Can
• Oven
b. Materials
• Sand-type soil sample

Direct Shear Test
 Soil Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia

III. GENERAL DISCUSSION
Shear Strength can be calculated directly by giving constant vertical load
(normal) to the sample and slowly give exact constant shear strength to keep the pore
water pressure zero until the maximum shear strength is achieved. The normal
pressure is calculated by dividing the normal pressure given to the shear surface area:
𝜎! ! !
!

While shear stress can be obtain by calculating shear force (G) obtained from reading
the maximum load ring dial, after being multiplied with the calibration value of
proving ring (LRC):
𝐺
𝜏=
𝐴
𝐺 = 𝑀 𝑋 𝐿𝑅𝐶

𝐿𝑅𝐶 = 0.15 𝑘𝑔/𝑑𝑖𝑣

The shear stress is taken from the Coulomb equation like the triaxial experiment,
where the effective stress parameter is:

Where:
τ = Shear strength (kPa, ksf, psi, etc.)
c’ = effective soil cohesion (kPa, ksf, etc.)
σn = normal stress (kPa, ksf, etc.)
φ’ = effective shear angle (°)
Δu = pore water pressure difference (kPa, ksf, etc.)

Along with the increasing normal force, the resistance force that will be given
will also increase. This is because the contact point between particles will increase
because of the normal force. Hence, it can be concluded that the shear strength is one
of the function of normal load. For loose soil (cohesion-less – sand), the cohesion
value should be 0, with the shear angle (φ) of sand is around 28° - 48°.

Direct Shear Test
 Soil Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia

Additional Theory
The Direct Shear Test is used for determination of the consolidated drained (or
undrained) shear strength of soils. The test is performed by deforming a specimen at a
controlled rate on or near a single shear plane.
Results of different tests for the same soil are presented in a chart with peak
stress on vertical axis and normal (confining) stress on the horizontal axis. A linear
curve fitting is often made on the test result points. The intercept of this line wit the
vertical axis gives the cohesion and its slope gives the peak friction angle.

IV. PROCEDURES
a. Preparation
1. Measure the inside round diameter of the Shear Box.
2. Balance the counterweight system so that it can gives normal force to the
shear box.
3. Weigh the Shear box lid + ball + can.
4. Provide enough sand, which have been cleaned from organic materials of
cobbles with the no. 18 sieve.
5. Take a little amount of sand, weigh it, and put it inside the oven to search for
its water content.

b. Testing Procedures
1. Insert the sand to the shear box until about ¾ full, then lock the shear box so
that it wouldn’t move.
2. Smoothen the sand’s surface with spatula, then close the shear box with its lid
and ball.
3. Give the 5 kg load, then remove the shear box’s lock.
4. Set the horizontal dial and load ring dial to zero.
5. Give shear force to the shear box with 1 mm/minute velocity.
6. Take note of the horizontal dial reading every 15 seconds until the dial stops
or turn backwards.
7. Repeat steps number 1 – 6 for 10, 15, 20, 25 kg load.

Direct Shear Test
 Soil Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia

V. COMPUTATIONS
a. Experiment Data
Time Vertical Load (kg)
(Second) 5 10 15 20 25 30
15 29 38 46 133 63 65
30 34 57 65 157 79 88
45 39 69 77 157 100 111
60 42 76 85 151 118 131
75 43 8 88 135 140
90 42 82 93 143 144
105 82 96 152 144

120 81 94 157 140

135 161

150 163

165 162

Max 43 82 96 157 163 144

b. Data Calculation
1
𝐴= ×𝜋×6,3! = 31,17 𝑐𝑚!
4

Weight of lid +ball Diameter of Shear Box Surface area

Group LRC
(kg) (cm) (cm2) (kg/div)

1 0.844 6.23 30.47 0.15

2 0.82 6.3 31.16 0.15

3 0.843 6.33 31.45 0.15

Direct Shear Test
 Soil Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia


Load 5 Kg:
M = 43
1
σ = P/A2 0.19 kg/cm²
τ = (LRC*M)/A2 0.21 kg/cm²
Load 10 Kg:
M = 82
2
σ = P/A2 0.35 kg/cm²
τ = (LRC*M)/A2 0.39 kg/cm²
Load 15 Kg:
M = 96
3
σ = P/A3 0.186 kg/cm²
τ = (LRC*M)/A3 0.458 kg/cm²
Load 20 Kg:
M = 157
4
σ = P/A1 0.684 kg/cm²
τ = (LRC*M)/A1 0.773 kg/cm²
Load 25 Kg:
M = 163
5
σ = P/A1 0.848 kg/cm²
τ = (LRC*M)/A1 0.802 kg/cm²
Load 30 Kg:

M = 144
6
σ = P/A3 0.981 kg/cm²
τ = (LRC*M)/A3 0.687 kg/cm²

And the same way to other loads so that we can make a graph to determine the
value of c and φ using linear regression:
𝒀= 𝒂 𝑿+ 𝒃
𝑷
𝑿=𝑺=
𝑨

Direct Shear Test
 Soil Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia

𝑮
𝒀=𝑻=
𝑨

Load X (P/A) Y (G/A)
(kg) (kPa) (kPa)
5
18.32 20.302
10
34.056 34.056
15
18.217 18.217
20
67.090 75.799
25
83.183 78.696
30
96.161 67.344

Normal Stress vs Shear Stress

y = 0.7686x + 8.4565
Shear Stress (Kpa)

0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 120.00
Normal Stress (Kpa)

According to the graph above, the value of cohesion (c) and shear angle (φ) of sand
based on equation y = 0.7686x + 8.4565. Where the shear angle (φ) is is 37.5°, and
the value of cohesion (c) = 8.4656 kpa or 0.0863 kg/Cm2 . To get the water content
of each sample, the practican use this following equation :

𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 + 𝑐𝑎𝑛 − (𝐷𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 + 𝑐𝑎𝑛)

𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 =
𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 + 𝑐𝑎𝑛

Direct Shear Test
 Soil Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia

Can 1 Can 2 Can 3

Saturated soil + can (gr) 36.5 49.4 18.6

Dry soil + can (gr) 35 47.2 17.5

Water content (%) 4% 4% 6%
Average of water content (%) 4.67%

VI. ANALYSIS
a. Experiment Analysis
The objective of this experiment is to determine the cohesion value (c) and
shear angle (φ) of a soil sample. This experiment was held at soil mechanics
laboratory in the faculty of engineering Universitas Indonesia. Before start the
experiment, the practicans have to prepare the equipment that needed. After that,
measured the diameter of the shear box three times, and calculate the average. After
measured the diameter of shear box, the practican weigh the lid of shear box with the
ball on it. The first step of this experiment is; the practican locked the shear box in
order to make it fixed and did not move. Furthermore, the practican had to put the
sand that will be used for the experiment, into the shear box. The practican put the
sand until it reached ¾ part of the shear box, and continue until the shear box
filled with sand. When the shear box filled with sand, the practican put it on the
direct shear test machine. Put the load needed as the vertical load. Pulled the
shear box lock, so that the horizontal force will not be sustained by the lock.
Then, the practican had to calibrate the dial. Thereafter, the practican gave shear
force to the shear box with velocity 1mm/minute. The practican record the dial
reading of horizontal force every 15 seconds. Next, repeat the steps for other
loads.
b. Result Analysis
From this experiment, there are several data that obtained from dial reading
for each loads; 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 kg. The value of maximum dial readings
(M) for each loads are; 43 for 5kg, 82 for 10kg, 96 for 15kg, 157 for 20kg, 163 for
25kg, and 144 for 30kg. Based on the graph between shear stress and normal
stress, the practican obtained y = 0.7686x + 8.4565 by using linear regression

Direct Shear Test
 Soil Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia

method. From this equation, the value of cohesion (c) and shear angle (φ) are
obtained, according to the table below, the type of sand that used in this
experiment is dense sand with rounded grains, since the value of shear angle
that obtained is 37.5°. The value of cohesion that obtained (c) is 8.4656 kpa or
0.0863 kg/cm2 . According to the value of cohesion, it shows that the sample is
sand, because the value of c is not exactly 0, which means that the sample is
might be mixed with clay or silt soil. Furthermore, from water content
experiment, the average water content from three samples is obtained, which is
4.67%.

c. Graph Analysis
y = 0.7686x + 8.4565
Normal Stress vs Shear Stress


Shear Stress (Kpa)

0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 120.00
Normal Stress (Kpa)

Direct Shear Test
 Soil Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia

According to the graph above, as seen on the linear graph, the normal stress is directly
proportional with the horizontal shear stress. This could be happen because of the
increment of normal stress, so that the sand sample will be more solid. Hence, the
shear stress will be increased.
a. Error Analysis
In this experiment, there might be some errors and failure that occurred during
the experiment, such as:
● Parallax error, there might be a misreading while the practican read the
horizontal dial.
● Human error, this failure might be happened when the practican did not
put the shear box carefully so that the sand sample inside the shear box
fell out of the shear box.
● The timing when the practican read the horizontal dial might be not
coincided with the clockwise.
● The velocity of shear force might be inconsistent.

VII. APPLICATION
The values of cohesion and shear angle are the important parameter in
calculation of soil bearing capacity. This experiment could be applied for planning the
slope stability. Moreover, this experiment could be applied in planning bearing
capacity of foundation, and also to knowing the soil strength parameters.

VIII. CONCLUSION
According to the calculation result of this experiment, the practican can conclude that:
● The value of cohesion (c) is obtained, which is 8.4656 kpa or 0.0863 kg/cm2
And the value of shear angle (ö) is obtained, which is 37.5°.
● The value of cohesion (c) that obtained is not corresponding with theoretical
value of cohesion (C), which is 0. This is occur because of the sand sample
that was used might be mixed with either clay or silt soil.
● The water content of the sand sample that used in this experiment is 4.67%.

Direct Shear Test
 Soil Mechanics Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering – Faculty of Engineering
Universitas Indonesia

IX. REFERENCE
● Soil Mechanics Laboratory. (2015). Soil Mechanics Experiment Handbook.
Depok: Civil Engineering Universitas Indonesia.
● http://www.geotechdata.info/geotest/direct-shear-test.html

X. APPENDIX

Figure 2. Direct shear test Figure 1. Direct Shear test

machine machine

Direct Shear Test