State-of-the-Art Paper: A Reevaluation of Conventional Triaxial Test Methods

A practical reevaluation of some aspects of conventional triaxial test methods is made, based on Bishop and Henkel's book The Measurement of Soil Properties in the Triaxial Test (2nd ed., Edward Arnold, London, 1962). Some advances in measurement techniques, methods of preparing, installing and saturating specimens, and the measurement of the initial effective stress are discussed, with particular emphasis on potential sources of disturbance and methods to reduce this. The use of unconsolidated undrained tests and various stress paths in relation to current needs is represented.