Traxial Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Traxial - Lab Report Example A triaxial cell was used in the experiment. The soil was encased in the cell. The soil was loaded hydrostatically until the desired pressure was obtained. The axial load was increased up to the soil failure, when the pressure was constant. The resulting deformation, and applied load was measured using a system of acquiring data, and load deformation curves plotted. When the soil reached a high confine pressure, it reached a brittle-ductile transition (Ferrari, A. laloui, L. & Koliji, A. 2011). Beyond this stress condition, the soil increased the load capabilities with no observed failure due to the additional axial strain that was imposed (Zhang et al. 2010) Introduction A triaxial compression test involves a method that is used in measuring the chemical properties of solids that are deformed such as rocks, soil, powders, or granular components. During this method, water or oil as medium of confining is normally used to ensure that the confining pressure is same in the different dire ctions. In the case of loose granular components like sand, the soil is kept in a cylindrical latex sleeve having a flat circular platen or metal plate covering the bottom and the top ends (Ferrari, A. laloui, L. & Koliji, A. 2011). The cylinder would then be placed inside the water bath to offer pressure along the cylindrical sides. The top metal plate would be driven mechanically down or up along the cylinder axis to have the material squeezed. In this case, the distance covered by the top metal plate is obtained as a force function that is needed to be moved. In this case, the surrounding water pressure is controlled carefully (Zhang et al. 2010). The volume net change of the given material would equally be measured depending on the amount of water that moves inside and outside the bath (Ferrari, A. laloui, L. & Koliji, A. 2011). This measurement is obtained whenever water has saturated the samples through taking the measurement of the quantity of water flowing in an out of the p ores of the given samples. In order to understanding the characteristics of the triaxial compression test, an experiment was set to investigate the undrained triaxial compression test. The key objective of the experiment was to find out the undrained shear strength of soil samples through the use of the triaxial compression test. Experiment procedure The apparatus used in the study involved a triaxial cell, and the soil component. Water under pressure was poured into the triaxial cell. The specimen was vertically loaded through a ring to ensure that the load was measured. The vertical load was increased up to when a failure occurred. At the same time, the vertical strain was recorded using the dial gauge. This test was repeated using different cell pressure values. The samples were extruded out of the tube and trimmed to the size of the soil sample. The soil sample had a diameter of 38mm and a length of 76 mm. The samples were then sleeved using a rubber membrane. The samples were t hen put on the pedestal at the cell bottom and sealed using a ring of rubber. The loading cap was placed on top of each sample and equally sealed using the rubber ring before having the drainage tube secured. After this, the cell was mounted over the sample and filled following the checklist of the flooding triaxial cell. The test was then set up with the help of the assistant from the clip studio, and the checklist for the pressurising triaxial cell completed before running the stages of the test. After completing the stages of