Experimental Study on Shear Strength Characteristics and Stress-Strain Relationship of Loess

This paper mainly concerns the non-linear strength characteristics of the loess. A series of consolidated undrained triaxial tests(CU test) and consolidated drained triaxial tests (CD test) of normal consolidation and over consolidation loess specimens are carried out by using the normal triaxial apparatus of strain control. The stress-strain relationship curves and strength characteristics of loess are investigated and analyzed. The results show that the stress-strain relationship obtained by CU tests appears strain softening, while the stress-strain relationship for CD tests appears strain hardening. Different failure modes have different stress-strain relationships. Furthermore, the results also show that the peak strength, residual strength and residual strength ratio change with the different confining pressure. Based on the triaxial shear tests of normal consolidated loess, the influences of over-consolidated loess on the stress-strain relationships and strength characteristic are discussed. Several conclusions obtained in this paper can be referenced for the loess experimental study.