pocket Torvane shear tester

A scientifically designed soil testing instrument for the rapid deter-mination of shear strength of cohesive soils, either in the field or in the laboratory. It permits the determination of a large number of strength values with different orientation of failure planes. The tester is simple to use and sample trimming is eliminated. All that is required is a re-asonably flat surface 25 mm in diameter.

Field applications Suggested applications for evaluations of shear strength are:

-Samples in shelly tubes

-Standard penetration samples

-Split spoon samples

Accuracy

The shear strength of a cohesive soil is dependent upon many factors, including rate of loading, progressive failure, orientation of the failure plane and pore water migration during testing. The vane shear tester does not eliminate the effects of any of these variables. However, it does give repeatable values in a homogeneous clay and extensive laboratory testing indicates excellent agreement between the unconfined com-pression test and the shear tester.

The smallest division on the dial is 0.05 kg/cm 2, permitting visual interpretation to the nearest 0.01 kg/m 2 .

Measuring range (in kg/cm2 ) of the 3 vanes:

0 - 0.2

0 - 1

0 - 2.5

Conversion charts giving shear strength in kg/cm2 depending on the adapter used are printed on the backside of this leaflet. Total measuring range 0 - 250 kPa