A NEW SIMPLE SHEAR APPARATUS

A new simple shear device capable of measuring a complete set of stresses during simple shear deformation is described. This simple shear device tests a cuboidal specimen whose lateral sides are surrounded by a rubber membrane reinforced by a stack of Teflon® coated aluminum plates. One of the aluminum plates is used as a transducer to determine the lateral stresses on planes normal and parallel to the direction of shearing. A load cell located around the middle of the top boundary provides data to deduce the normal and shear stresses as well as the pore-water pressures. A sample set of results are presented to illustrate some of the advantages of this new simple shear device. The advantages include the ease of specimen preparation, the determination of the stress invariants, the pore-water pressures at the center of the sample, and the rotation of the principal axes of strain and stresses on a routine basis.