Acknowledgements & sgzSX
This work would not have been possible without the help, dedication, and /J!~0~F
support of Professor Ellen M. Rathje. It is a great fortune for me to work for her b$Q#Fv&P
and I will be forever grateful. ' pfkbmJ
During the research process, Professor K. H. Stokoe has been very s[%@3bY!7
generous and is great help to us. He also provides many precious opinions and * R8P brN
useful suggestions in the instrumentation designs and data interpretations. I really bq z*90
appreciate his assistances in this research. Also, I am very thankful to my PD b7 h
committee members, Professor Wilson, Professor Williamson, and Professor u(~( + 1W
Wright for their constructive opinions and valuable time. R]NCD*~
In addition, I am very grateful many faculty members at UT-Austin. The p*| Ct
list includes: Professor Olson, Professor Gilbert, Professor Rauch, and Professor +@MG$* }Oz
Wright. I have learned so much from all of you, and I appreciate all you have CJt(c,!z
done to prepare me for the future. */j[n$K>~`
Mostly, I would like to thank my wife Pei-Shan and daughter Alison for <AB({(
their tremendous patient during my preparation of this dissertation. My wife in @+Anp4%;Y
particular has had to carry more than her fair share of the duties taking care of our ,@aF#
daughter. Also, to my incredible parents, I am so lucky to have you. \N.Bx
vi UxvT|~"
I am indebted to many former and current graduate students in ;M5]XCP k
geotechnical engineering group at UT-Austin. They had been help me preparing Bs\& '=l
the specimen, conducting field and laboratory tests, encouraging me in bad days, p5#UH
and sharing joys in good days. ese?; 1 r
I would also like to thank all the people at Capitol Aggregates for y|(?>\jBl
providing a test site and concrete both essential to this work.
