Shear strength of compacted soils

• Main Author: Tiah, Jerome Sze Kiat
• Other Authors: Leong Eng Choon
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Civil engineering::Geotechnical
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/71371
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The main aim of this project is to study the shear strength behaviour of compacted soil using direct shear test. The soils were compacted at five different water contents under the Standard Proctor Compaction effort. Two points were chosen on the dry side of optimum water content on the compaction curve, one at the optimum water content and two points from the wet side of optimum water content. The soil samples were compacted statically using a California Bearing Ratio (CBR) machine to the same dry density on the Standard Proctor compaction curve. The compacted samples were then sheared using the direct shear apparatus. Direct shear tests were conducted on inundated samples and on compacted samples, representing saturated and unsaturated samples, respectively. The results obtained were used to study and interpret shear strength parameters of the soil and to further understand the extended Mohr - Coulomb shear strength equation proposed by Fredlund et al. (1978).