Stress-strain characteristics of the Taipei silty clay at small strain

This study first developed a triaxial apparatus with the capability of small-strain measurement. Then a series of undrained triaxial tests were carried out to investigate the stress-strain behavior of the reconstituted Taipei silty clay at small strain. Test results show that the non-linear behavior of the normally consolidated Taipei silty clay at small strain (epsilon=10(-5)similar to10(-3)) is significant irrespective of the initial effective stress state and the shearing rate. The peak deviator stress occurs at strain of 10(-3)similar to4x10(-3). The normalized initial elastic stiffness at strain of 10(-5) can reach 1600similar to2450, which is much higher than that measured by conventional triaxial tests.