Yes, good point, I know what you mean. However, vertical displacements were negative with negative volumetric strain, which I inferred to mean contractive behavior, rather than dilative, unless the lab has a very unusual sign convention. I am in the process of getting them to clarify/confirm my...
Thanks, Ron, for your quick feedback. That was my reaction too, but some of my office colleagues felt there must be something wrong with the test results as the angles were "so high". I thought tehey were probably correct as I tried to envision those crushed rock particles trying to shera...
I read with interest a thread now closed that dates back to July 2010 on a similar subject. I am trying to evaluate the internal angle of friction of crushed limestone as a backfill material (max. particle size of 25mm). I had 30cm x 30cm (1ft x 1ft) direct shear box tests on the material...
