Triaxial shear test

A triaxial shear test is like a game that scientists play with soil. They want to understand how strong the soil is, so they put a tiny piece of soil into a special machine.

In this machine, the soil is squished from all sides at once, like a big hug. The scientists want to see if the soil will break under this pressure, like when you step on a cracker and it snaps.

But the test is a little more complicated than that. The scientists also want to see how the soil moves when it is under pressure. So they twist the soil a little bit while it is being squished from all sides. This makes the soil move and change its shape.

To make sure they get good measurements, the scientists do this test many times, using different amounts of pressure and twists. This helps them understand how strong the soil is in different situations, like when it's being squished or twisted more or less.

With all this information, scientists can tell builders and engineers how much weight the soil can hold, and what kind of structures can be built on it safely.