Membrane Effects in Biaxial Compression Tests
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 7
Abstract
The effects of the confining membrane in laboratory tests on soil specimens have been the subject of numerous experimental, analytical, and numerical studies over the past half-century. This technical note expands the existing knowledge base by presenting a methodology and the associated results from an experimental study that has quantified the effect of the confining membrane in biaxial shear tests conducted on medium sand. The applicability of the method of biaxial tests on clay specimens is also presented. The results show that for both tests on sands and clays, the effect of the membrane on the shear stress on the failure plane are significant and should be accounted for in the interpretation of biaxial shear test results where localization occurs.
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Acknowledgments
The writers sincerely appreciate the test data for kaolinite provided by Dr. Dunja Peric of Kansas State University that allowed them to expand their studies to other materials.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 7 • July 2009
Pages: 986 - 991
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 6, 2007
Accepted: Dec 6, 2008
Published online: Feb 21, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2009
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