Abstract
University College London (UCL) has developed a new flexible boundary plane strain shear apparatus for investigating stress-strain-strength anisotropy in sands. Called the Directional Shear Cell (DSC), it has the unique capability of controlling the major principal stress direction by varying the normal stress and shear stress acting on four faces of a cubical sample constrained between two rigid end plattens. The paper describes the device and its use, and presents results from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) test program run on dense and loose Leighton Buzzard Sand to independently evaluate the device and for comparison with data obtained at UCL to investigate the effects of induced anisotropy due to prestraining. The DSC has now been used to measure inherent anisotropy in loose sand. These data are presented and MIT's progress in modifying the DSC to enable K0 consolidated-undrained testing of soft clays is described.
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