Large Scale Shear Box Testing of Interface Between Construction Materials and Soils

Abstract

The interaction between soil and building structures of various materials is defined on the basis of certain assumptions, but these are shown in many cases to be not accurate from the point of view of safe, reliable and economic design of engineering structures. Therefore, as part of our research activities, we decided to better understand the transfer of shear forces and the interaction between soil and other materials. We focused on testing materials in a shear box apparatus, where 3 types of tests were carried out: in the first stage, we tested the shear parameters of the soil in a 900 mm2 box apparatus; in the second stage, the properties of the interaction between soil and concrete were tested, and in the third stage, soil was in contact with the steel plate. The results of the tests are within the expected range of the interface friction angle between the structures and the soils.

Keywords

• soil interface
• large scale direct shear test
• soil shear strength
• shear parameters
• adhesion