Modified Shear Box Test Apparatus for Measuring Shear Strength of Unsaturated Residual Soil

Abstract

Residual soils occur in most countries of the world but the greater areas and depths are normally found in tropical humid areas. Most of these soils exhibit high suctions for most of the year. The shear strength parameters, c’ and Φ’, of soil can be obtained using conventional shear strength tests. However the conventional shear strength test equipments would not be able to measure Φ^b value (change of shear strength to change in suction) without certain modification to them. This study describes the modifications that have been made to a standard shear box test apparatus to enable it to test soil samples in unsaturated conditions. The modifications include fabrication of an air pressure chamber, modifications of the shear box assembly inside the air pressure chamber, modification to the normal loading system, as well as additions of data acquisition devices to enhance the performance and simplify the usage of the modified shear box test apparatus.