LARGE SHEARMEC - Electromechanical shear machine for large-sized samples

Large Shearmec is an electromechanical frame designed by Matest to perform direct and residual shear tests on samples with coarse or medium grain soils, such as gravel. The stainless steel shear box has a size of 300x300 mm, in order to accommodate the largest diameter of the grains and obtain shear strength values for the sample as a whole, not just for the single particles. The shear force and the vertical pressure are applied by 2 electromechanical actuators of 100 kN each, with a travel of 150 mm and 75mm respectively. Stresses are measured by 2 electronic load cells of 100 kN, one for the horizontal force and one for the vertical pressure. To facilitate the sample insertion and access to the test area, Matest has developed an innovative upper plate lifting system with self-locking joint which guarantees the axiality of the load.

The Cyber Plus Progress unit, based on a closed-loop control, manages the system completely and automatically, from data acquisition to real-time graph display. The machine can be controlled even remotely through SmartLab, the innovative software platform which allows both data acquisition and processing and test results export. Large Shearmec can be configured to perform tests on geosynthetic materials as well.

Application: Shear test

Property: Soil