The Louisiana Plane Strain Apparatus for Soil Testing
Alshibli, KA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 3507 CEBA Building, Louisiana State University and Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803

Godbold, DL
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803

Hoffman, K
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803

(Received 12 May 2003; accepted 19 November 2003)

Abstract
The mechanical description of a new plane strain (biaxial) apparatus for soil testing is presented. The design took into consideration flexibility in accomodating different specimen sizes, easy assembly procedure, and well-controlled boundary conditions. The apparatus is well instrumented with load, displacement, and pressure sensors and has the capabilities to capture localization and shear band development. A comparison between two experiments that were conducted on F-75 Ottawa sand is presented and the effect of inhibiting lateral movement of bottom end platen is presented and discussed. It has been found that restraining lateral movement of bottom end platen has resulted in higher peak and residual load values.

Keywords:
boundary conditions, clay, deformation, localization, plane strain, sand, shear bands, soil, soil testing, strength

Paper ID: GTJ19103
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ19103

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Author Alshibli, KA Affiliation Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 3507 CEBA Building, Louisiana State University and Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Author Godbold, DL Affiliation Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Author Hoffman, K Affiliation Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 Author Alshibli KA, Godbold DL, Hoffman K Title The Louisiana Plane Strain Apparatus for Soil Testing Symposium , Committee on