DefinePK

Abstract

Peat is known as a problematic soil because it has low shear strength. This research is to determine the shear strength behaviour of different types of peat. The shear strength of peat is very important for determining the stability of cuts and slope, bearing capacity of foundation and retaining wall. The samples were collected at two different locations, Pontian, Johore and Penor, Pahang, Malaysia. The samples are classified as hemic peat and amorphous peat. The shear strength behaviour of hemic and amorphous can be determined on its cohesion, c and internal friction angle, φ. The result shows that there are different shear strength value between hemic peat and amorphous peat. Direct simple shear and direct shear box is used to determine the shear strength of peat. The value of c and ? for direct shear box gave higher value than direct simple shear. But it shows that direct simple shear is more suitable to determine the shear strength on peat. Shear strength is very important to know during construction, especially for supporting construction equipment and structures and this paper can help geotechnical engineers understand about the shear strength behaviour on peat.