Geocomp announced in August it has released an addition to the company’s series of fully-automated laboratory soil testing systems: a Bi-Directional Cyclic Direct Simple Shear (BDCDSS) machine. This table-top unit allows simple shear testing to be performed in two orthogonal horizontal directions rather than the standard single horizontal direction. This system can mimic the stresses that occur to soil elements experiencing cycling in multiple directions. Common examples of these situations include dynamic earthquake shaking, offshore structures subjected to waves and foundations for wind-energy towers.

The BDCDSS can automatically run consolidation, bi-directional cyclic and post-cyclic undrained shear phases of a test. The device also can be used to perform direct simple shear and unidirectional cyclic direct simple shear tests.