Acknowledgements ~ 9 >H(c
This work would not have been possible without the help, dedication, and _ @5Xmr
support of Professor Ellen M. Rathje. It is a great fortune for me to work for her
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and I will be forever grateful. L+t
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During the research process, Professor K. H. Stokoe has been very HqGI.
generous and is great help to us. He also provides many precious opinions and -[mmT'sS
useful suggestions in the instrumentation designs and data interpretations. I really JrP`u4f_
appreciate his assistances in this research. Also, I am very thankful to my dOjly,!
committee members, Professor Wilson, Professor Williamson, and Professor { FJM c O=
Wright for their constructive opinions and valuable time.
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In addition, I am very grateful many faculty members at UT-Austin. The :;$MUOps
list includes: Professor Olson, Professor Gilbert, Professor Rauch, and Professor _i =*0Q
Wright. I have learned so much from all of you, and I appreciate all you have eI8o#4nT
done to prepare me for the future. UZdnsG7
Mostly, I would like to thank my wife Pei-Shan and daughter Alison for D
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their tremendous patient during my preparation of this dissertation. My wife in u>XXKlW:
particular has had to carry more than her fair share of the duties taking care of our \!ZA#7
daughter. Also, to my incredible parents, I am so lucky to have you. fu7x,b0p
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I am indebted to many former and current graduate students in 1k[_DQ=^l1
geotechnical engineering group at UT-Austin. They had been help me preparing t]xz7 VQ
the specimen, conducting field and laboratory tests, encouraging me in bad days, ,Ag {-&
and sharing joys in good days. D*l(p5[
I would also like to thank all the people at Capitol Aggregates for fB2ILRc
providing a test site and concrete both essential to this work.
