Stress Nonuniformities in Hollow Cylinder Torsional Specimens

Abstract

Abstract Stress nonuniformities across the wall of hollow cylindrical torsional shear (HCT) specimens under generalized stress conditions are assessed taking into account the nonlinearity in soil behavior. The domain of stress space that results in acceptable levels of nonuniformities is thus delineated for a given specimen geometry. It is shown that previous analyses assuming linear elastic soil grossly overestimate stress nonuniformities in HCT specimens. The HCT device is thus suitable for investigating soil behavior under generalized stresses over a much larger domain of stress space than that thought earlier.