An Apparatus for Evaluating Adhesion Between Soils and Solid Surfaces

Abstract

Abstract An apparatus in the direct shear mode has been developed to conduct soil-soil and soil-solid material interface tests in the undrained condition. Evaluation of the apparatus showed that all the requirements for simulating the undrained condition of shear are satisfied. The interface test results show that the adhesion factor α increases with the surface roughness of the solid material. In the case of the normally consolidated state, α is practically independent of the undrained shear strength of the clay for a given surface. For the overconsolidated state, α depends on the undrained shear strength and the overconsolidation ratio for smooth surfaces but for rough surfaces, α is independent of both undrained shear strength and overconsolidation ratio.