A SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR TRIAXIAL APPARATUSES WITH RODS OUTSIDE THE CELL

Triaxial testing is widely used both in research and commercial laboratories, but the quality of the tests may be restricted by the triaxial apparatus construction. If the rods are built outside the cell, one of the constraints encountered when testing soft soil is the impossibility to close the membrane and fasten the cap without disturbing the specimen. Although the purchase or construction of a new triaxial apparatus is always advisable, some of triaxial apparatuses could be improved using the solution described in this paper: a structure is constructed inside the cell to keep the cap immovable during the specimen installation. This structure was built and used for a triaxial cell with an accessible bottom, but a similar idea could be applied to other types of cells, allowing safe installation of the soft specimens and, after the cell is closed, lowering the loading piston onto the cap and fastening to it without disturbances.