Development of a True Triaxial Testing Apparatus

A stress-controlled, flexible boundary, true (or cubical) triaxial apparatus has been developed to investigate the behavior of cemented sand under various stress paths which are not achievable using conventional axisymmetric triaxial apparatus. The apparatus components, specimen preparation, and test procedure are described. Tests were performed on cemented sand along different stress paths which included hydrostatic compression, conventional triaxial compression, and along different directions on octahedral planes. The test results indicate that stress-strain and volumetric response of cemented sand depends on stress path.