Performing Undrained Shear Tests on Saturated Sands in a New Intelligent Type of Ring Shear Apparatus

Abstract The design and construction of an undrained ring shear apparatus, which was newly developed at Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, are presented in detail. This apparatus is suited for undrained shear tests under all types of loading, and enables observing the undrained shear behavior of soils in high-speed motion (maximum rotating speed 2.24 m/s) to an endless displacement level. Using rubber edges and a gap control system, leakage of pore water was effectively prevented, and the friction of rubber edges was controlled with high credibility during shearing. For undrained shearing tests on sand, the related experimental procedures are introduced and the undrained shear behavior of sand in ring shear test is presented. Test results showed that high pore water pressures could be built up in both loose and dense sands, given the shear displacement is great enough.