Direct Shear Testing

Direct shear testing studies the boundary conditions of natural (or artificially induced) faults or joints in fractured rocks, including cylindrical core samples and prismatic specimens. Typically, a specimen shear box holds the rock sample while a biaxial loading system applies perpendicular and shear forces simultaneously. Examining faults under various loading conditions helps predict in situ performance, resistance to sliding and stability of rock fault planes under changing stress conditions. Direct shear testing also helps reproduce natural boundary conditions of a rock joint or fault plane.

To facilitate these tests, MTS offers a durable, specialized direct shear fixture designed to integrate with MTS rock mechanics test systems. The fixture allows users to test larger specimens at high forces and displacements, as well as control the rotation of the rock joint under load in multiple degrees of freedom. Other important capabilities for direct shear testing include:

• Robust, reliable rock mechanics test systems
• Specialized software for advanced data monitoring, acquisition and processing
• Technical support from MTS experts with more than 40 years of rock testing 
   experience