Biaxial and Triaxial Shear Testers

The principle of these testers is that the specimen can be subjected to controlled stresses in two orthogonal directions (biaxial testers) or three orthogonal directions (triaxial testers). In the case of the triaxial testers, two of the orthogonal stresses are usually equal, normally generated by liquid pressure in a pressure chamber. The specimen is placed in a cylindrical rubber membrane and enclosed by rigid end cups. The specimen is consolidated isotropically, i.e. by the same pressure in all three directions which leads to volumetric strain but little or no shear strain. This is followed by anisotropic stress conditions, whereby a greater axial stress is imparted on the specimen by mechanical force through the end cups. In the evaluation of results it is assumed that the principal stresses act on horizontal and vertical planes, and Mohr circles can be easily drawn for the failure conditions. 

The triaxial test apparatus was first developed for testing soils16 but this is unsuitable for powders because it is designed for a relatively high stress range. Many different modifications of the 

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One way which relies upon the fundamental knowledge of the stress-strain-volume behaviour of bulk solids is dependent upon the development of testers such as the biaxial and triaxial shear testers as well as the now universally accepted Jenike shear cell, or the standard shear test tester. Other instruments, such as the annular shear cells and the cross-sectional Peschl and Colijn (1977) tester, use the same stress-strain-volume principle. These annular shear cells may also be used to evaluate a bulk powder flow function. The powder flow function, having been discussed previously, still requires a family of yield loci before cohesion can be evaluated. 

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