= 72, THE MECHANICS OF SUILS Special conditions Name of test Diagram Cylirifrical compression. oe ‘The ‘triaxial’ test . a 0, #0 #0¢ True triaxial a ~~ e- 70 i Plane strain or biaxial ‘One-dimensional compression o | Plane stress ce c oy b- ee “The oedometer test . * 0 c : % Uniaxial compression or Oye eee ae uhconfined compression %=0 0, =0 . ° 0, #0) = 0, =0 Isotropic compression eh Figure 5-4 Stress conditions in some common soil tests 3 in order of maguitude. When the soil sample is cylindrical it is usual to denote the radial stress by ¢, and the axial stress by ¢,. We cannot immediately calculate the magnitude of the tangential stress og and it is usual to make the simple assumption that og = o,. : In the true triaxial test, all three principal stresses may differ and each may be varied independently, while in the isotropic compression test all principal stresses are equal; there’ are various other kinds of test between these extremes. Strictly speaking; the triaxial test in which o, = 9, = 0, = 09 would be better-described as the cylindrical compression test or the axially