Abstract
In Finland, undrained shear strength is commonly measured using the field vane shear test (FV). Currently, the most commonly used field vane testers are the Nilcon vane and the electrical vane with shear rotation and measuring systems located above the ground level. Vane testing is normally carried out using vanes equipped with slip coupling, while the use of casing for protecting the vane is not very common. Recent studies from Finland have shown that the undrained shear strength of clays can be significantly underestimated when casing is not used. Experimental observations suggest that the slip coupling might not always be sufficient to remove all of the rod friction effects that occur during testing. Tampere University of Technology has recently purchased an innovative field vane apparatus with a vane tester unit, where torque and rotations are measured right above the vane. In this way, the effect of rod friction is minimized and the measured stress-rotation behavior is less biased. In this study, issues related to practical applications, testing devices and interpretation methods are discussed. Then, a critical comparison between test results in soft clays from both the traditional and new field vane testers is performed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aas G (1965) Study of the effect of vane shape and rate of strain on measured values of in-situ shear strength of clays. In: Proceedings of the conference on shear strength of soils, Oslo, 1, pp 141–145
ASTM D2573-01 (2007) Standard test m,ethod for field vane shear test in cohesive soil, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2007, www.astm.org
Bjerrum L (1972) Embankments on soft ground, ASCE specialty conference on performance of earth and earth-supported structures. 2, pp 1–54
Bjerrum L (1973) Problems of soil mechanics and construction on soft clays. State-of-the-art report. In: Proceedings of the 8th ICSMFE, Moscow, 3, pp 111–159
Brand EW, Brenner RP (eds) (1981) Soft clay engineering, 20. Elsevier, Amsterdam/New York
Cadling L, Odenstad S (1948) The Vane Borer. In: Proceedings of the Royal Swedish Geotechnical Institute, 2, pp 1–87
Chandler RJ (1988) The in-situ measurement of the undrained shear strength of clays using the field vane. Vane shear strength testing in soils: field and laboratory studies, pp 13–44
De Alencar JA, Chan DH, Morgenstern NR (1988) Progressive failure in the vane test, vane shear strength testing in soils: field and laboratory studies, ASTM STP 1014, AF
Di Buò B, D’Ignazio M, Selänpää J, Länsivaara T (2016) Preliminary results from a study aiming to improve ground investigation data. In: Proceedings of the 17th Nordic Geotechnical Meeting, Reykjavik, 25–28 May 2016, 1, pp 187–197
D’Ignazio M, Länsivaara T, Jostad HP (2017) Failure in anisotropic sensitive clays: a Finite Element study of the Perniö failure test. Can Geotechl J. doi:10.1139/cgj-2015-0313.
Donald IB, Jordan DO, Parker RJ, Toh CT (1977) The vane test-a critical appraisal. In: Proceedings of the 9th international conference on soil mechanics and foundation engineering, 1, pp 81–88
Flaate K (1966) Factors influencing the results of vane tests. Can Geotech J 3:18–31
Griffiths DV, Lane PA (1990) Finite element analysis of the shear vane test. Comput Struct 37(6):1105–1116
Gylland AS, Jostad HP, Nordal SN (2012) Failure geometry around the shear vane in soft sensitive clay. In: Proceedings of the 16th Nordic Geotechnical Meeting (NGM), Copenhagen, pp 103–110
Kimura T, Saitoh K (1983) Effect of disturbance due to insertion on vane shear strength of normally consolidated cohesive soils. Soils Found 23:113–124
Kulhawy FH, O’Rourke TD, Stewart JP, Beech JF (1983) Transmission line structure foundations for uplift-compression loading, load test summaries: appendix to EPRI Final Report EL-2870. Electric Power Research Institute
La Rochelle P, Roy M, Tavenas F (1973) Field measurements of cohesion in Champlain clays. In: Proceedings of the 8th international conference on soil mechanics and foundation engineering, Moscow, 1, pp 229–236
Lehtonen V, Meehan C, Länsivaara T, Mansikkamäki J (2015) Full-scale embankment failure test under simulated train loading. Géotechnique 65(12):961–974
Menzies BK, Merrifield CM (1980) Measurements of shear distribution at the edges of a shear vane blade. Géotechnique 30(3):314–318
Mitchell JK, Soga K (1976) Fundamentals of soil behavior. Wiley, New York
Ortigao JAR, Collet HB (1988) Errors caused by friction in field vane tests. In: Vane shear strength testing in soils: field and laboratory studies. ASTM International, Philadelphia
Roy M, Leblanc A (1988) Factors affecting the measurements and interpretation of the vane strength in soft sensitive clays. In: Vane shear strength testing in soils: field and laboratory studies. ASTM International, Philadelphia
SGY (1995) Kairausopas II. 2. painos, 1999. Helsinki: Suomen Geoteknillinen yhdistys r.y. Finnish Geotechnical Society
Silvestri V, Aubertin M (1988) Anisotropy and in-situ vane tests. In: Vane shear strength testing in soils: field and laboratory studies. ASTM International, Philadelphia
Silvestri V, Aubertin M, Chapuis RP (1993) A study of undrained shear strength using various vanes. Geotech Test J 16(2):228–237
van den Berg AP (n.d.) User manual Icone vane tester Onshore http://www.apvandenberg.com/
Wroth CP (1984) The interpretation of in-situ soil tests. Rankine Lecture Geotéchnique 34(4):449–489
Acknowledgements
The research is funded by the Finnish Transport Agency, which is greatly appreciated. The authors would also like to thank Professor Christopher Meehan from the University of Delaware for his valuable comments when reviewing this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Selänpää, J., Di Buò, B., Länsivaara, T., D’Ignazio, M. (2017). Problems Related to Field Vane Testing in Soft Soil Conditions and Improved Reliability of Measurements Using an Innovative Field Vane Device. In: Thakur, V., L'Heureux, JS., Locat, A. (eds) Landslides in Sensitive Clays. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 46. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56487-6_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56487-6_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56486-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56487-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)