Vane shear tests in Lake Agassiz clays

• Main Author: Young, Frederick Dixon
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/5432

A great deal of testing with vane shear equipment in homogeneous clay soils has been reported throughout the world. This thesis deals with the results of vane shear tests in the varved clay deposits of glacial Lake Agassiz in Manitoba. The soil shearing resistance determined by a vane was compared, in most cases, to one-half of the unconfined compression test result for tube samples. The vane results from one test hole were compared to one-half the deviator stress as determined from triaxial tests. In addition to the determination of the reliability of vane test results in varved clays, the suitability of the vane test equipment was also studied. The test results indicate that the vane shear test will in general yield shear strengths in excess of those determined by unconfined compression tests on tube samples. On the basis of the test data presented in this thesis, the vane shear test appears to be a suitable means of determining the shear strength of varied clays although some refinements may be necessary in the testing equipment.