Vane Shear Test
Vane Shear Test
Vane Shear Test
One of the objectives of this research is to correlate the high quality CRS
laboratory results discussed in Section 3 with in situ methods so that the latter can be
used in geotechnical evaluations. The field vane shear test (VST) is the most widely used
method for estimation of the in-situ undrained shear strength of soft clays. In this report,
the undrained shear strength of the Lake Bonneville clays was determined by using the
VST and by a new method developed herein that uses the constant rate strain (CRS)
consolidation test results.
4.1. Vane Shear Test Apparatus
The VST tests were performed using the University of Utahs VST device
manufactured by Geotech Inc. of Sweden. The VST device comes with an electrical
control box for applying and recording the torque (torquemeter), a series of vanes and rod
and a slip coupling (Figure 4.1). The extension rods are fed through the recording box to
lower the vane to the appropriate test depth. The tapered vanes are of high quality nickelchromium steel and are specially designed to penetrate the soil with minimal disturbance.
Their maximum measuring range is 100 kPa for 65 x 130 mm vane and 200 kPa for 50 x
110 mm vane. When testing, the extension rod is coupled with the recording box by
locking mechanism and thereafter the box rotates the vane.
4-1
4.2. Procedure
The vane testing was done in conjunction with hollow-stem auger drilling. The
hollow stem was advanced to a depth approximately 0.3 m above the test interval. The
vane was further advanced to the test depth by pushing the vane rods with the drill rig.
For the testing, a rotation speed 0.1%/s was chosen, which is in the range suggested by
ASTM standard D2573. The applied torque is measured with strain gauges, and the
rotational angles are recorded every half of a degree. Once the yield point of the soil has
been reached, the rotation of the vane is continued in order to characterize the soils
strength at very large strain (i.e., residual strength).
In a second part of the test, the vane was released from the recording torquemeter
and rotated clockwise ten times with a pipe wrench to completely remold the soil. As
soon as thereafter, the torquemeter was once again locked onto the extension rods and the
test was repeated to determine the soils remolded undrained shear strength. To aid in the
interpretation of the test, the shape of the curve can be seen from a lap top computer,
which is connected to the torquemeter (Figure 4.2).
4-2
4-3
Peak
50
45
40
Torque (Nm)
35
30
25
20
15
Rod friction prior to
engaging vane
10
5
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Figure 4.3 VST undisturbed shear strength results for N. Temple 1281.98m
4-4
90
14
Torque (Nm)
12
10
2
Friction
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Figure 4.4 VST remolded shear strength results for N. Temple 1281.98m
As shown by the Figures 4.3 and 4.4, the amount of torque required to turn the
rods is first registered, then the total torque applied to both the rods and the vane until
failure is registered. The difference between these values was used to calculate the shear
strength of the soil. VST results were summarized in Table 4.1 and Figure 4.5. The
complete set of VST test curves are presented in Appendix F.
4-5