Undrained Strength of Anisotropically Consolidated Sand

Since the introduction of the triaxial compression test for determining the strength of soils, it has been common practice to consolidate samples under all-around confining pressures (isotropic stress conditions) prior to loading them to failure. During the past 10 yr or so a number of investigators have pointed out that soil elements in the ground are invariably consolidated under anisotropic stress conditions, as shown in Fig. 1, and that this factor should be taken into account if field conditions are to be simulated in laboratory test procedures.