Evolution of stiffness anisotropy during creep of engineered silty sand in South Korea

The variation in elastic shear moduli measured through bender element tests and the nonlinear strains in the axial and radial directions of triaxial specimens during creep were experimentally investigated. To consider various conditions of different relative densities and different stress ratios, a number of triaxial specimens were prepared. The engineered silty sand reconstituted from weathered residual soil in South Korea was used as the testing material. Due to aging, the post-creep stress-strain curve exhibited a stiffer response compared to the pre-creep stress-strain curve. It was found that the variation in elastic shear stiffness and the nonlinear deformation during creep depends on the stress ratio and initial relative density. The continuous change in the stiffness anisotropy during creep was closely related to the creep deformation patterns.