Acknowledgements gy;+_'.j
This work would not have been possible without the help, dedication, and oy;K_9\
support of Professor Ellen M. Rathje. It is a great fortune for me to work for her "XT"|KF|D
and I will be forever grateful. Zx d~c]n
During the research process, Professor K. H. Stokoe has been very V._(q^
generous and is great help to us. He also provides many precious opinions and {N#KkYH{"
useful suggestions in the instrumentation designs and data interpretations. I really q@jq0D)g
appreciate his assistances in this research. Also, I am very thankful to my Hp(D);0+)
committee members, Professor Wilson, Professor Williamson, and Professor RAp=s
Wright for their constructive opinions and valuable time. %G?;!Lz
In addition, I am very grateful many faculty members at UT-Austin. The f
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list includes: Professor Olson, Professor Gilbert, Professor Rauch, and Professor A'%1ZQ33O
Wright. I have learned so much from all of you, and I appreciate all you have 2m~V{mUT!
done to prepare me for the future. {$1J=JbE
Mostly, I would like to thank my wife Pei-Shan and daughter Alison for LE%7DW(
their tremendous patient during my preparation of this dissertation. My wife in r
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particular has had to carry more than her fair share of the duties taking care of our ,p9i% i
daughter. Also, to my incredible parents, I am so lucky to have you. >[1W:KQA
vi ?}B:
I am indebted to many former and current graduate students in oY=q4D
geotechnical engineering group at UT-Austin. They had been help me preparing g(|6~}|o+
the specimen, conducting field and laboratory tests, encouraging me in bad days, q}FVzahv
and sharing joys in good days. bTSL<"(]N
I would also like to thank all the people at Capitol Aggregates for w\19[U3
providing a test site and concrete both essential to this work.