Measurement of Swelling, Hydraulic Conductivity, and Shear Strength in a Multistage Triaxial Test

Abstract

AbstractThe multistage triaxial (MST) test described here measured swelling on saturation, hydraulic conductivity, isotropically consolidated‐undrained strength, and drained and undrained compressibility. Peak strengths were evaluated by application of a hyperbolic stress‐strain model and by extrapolation of stress‐strain curves to failure. Strength parameters obtained from MST and conventional triaxial (CT) tests agreed reasonably well for three compacted soils of widely varying properties. Both drained and undrained compression modulii from MST tests increased logarithmically with increasing confining pressure. Initial undrained compression modulii from CT and MST tests agreed fairly well, although there was a definite tendency towards reduced compressibility in the later stages of MST tests. Volumetric compressibilities during the drained phases of MST tests were markedly lower than those obtained in K0 compression tests.