ABSTRACT

The research data examined were obtained in the course of a series of tests employing the Dilatant Apparatus of Contact Shear and conducted by the constrained shear test method. The experiments listed herein explore the manner in which shear resistance is influenced by the major factors: degree of dilatancy constraint represented by the elastic resistance coefficient; grain size determined by the mean soil grain diameter; density characterized by the index of density; and moisture. The chapter considers the test data of dry maximum-density sands which are the most dilatant. The comparison of the obtained functions reveals a considerable difference between the values of resistance to the grain medium shear in the cases of free and restrained dilatancy. The conducted tests revealed that the value of the dilatant component increased with the increase of the elastic resistance coefficient (modulus of elasticity) of the soil massif adjacent to the shear layer.