Technical Resources

The direct simple shear device is a way to measure undrained shear strength of soils that reflects a the average shear strength mobilized in the field during failure of embankments on soft soil foundations and deep excavations in clay.

Soils at critical state are like a visco-plastic fluids, which will flow for applied stresses greater than the critical state (CS) shear strength.

Equipment for measuring peak and residual strength of geosynthetic materials is reviewed and discussed in the context of obtaining internal and interface strength values for design.

An experimental study of the effect of (initial) static shear stress on the undrained simple shear response of sands is presented.

Recently developed American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for direct simple shear (DSS) testing require that the sample be laterally confined in either a wire-reinforced membrane or stack of thin rings.