In order to characterise fabric evolution, continuous bidirectional shear wave velocity measurements are performed in vertical and horizontal directions (V&H) on triaxial soil specimens during shearing in which two horizontal piezo-electrics were mounted on samples using a new measurement technique. The specimens are prepared by wet tamping method and then subjected to strain-controlled compressional shearing under drained and undrained conditions. The shear wave velocities of all drained specimens initially increased as the loading commenced and then converged to a unique state in both horizontal and vertical directions. The shear wave velocity of undrained specimens on the other hand, for both horizontal and vertical directions initially decreased due to the rising of the excess pore water pressure and then gradually approached a unique shear wave velocity like drained specimens. The fabric condition or stiffness in V&H directions of all the examined drained and undrained specimens at critical state are found to be unique.

It is widely accepted that soil behavior is complicated taking into account soil anisotropy owing to the fact that this phenomenon arises from oriented soil fabric or structure forged in the deposition stage. In this study, a review of major findings of authors’ previous studies are presented with the main focus on soil anisotropy using extensive experimental results incuding Triaxial (TXT), Simple Shear (SSA), and Hollow Cylinder (HCA) apparatus. Effects of initial anisotropy, fabric evolution, stress path, principal stress rotation and intermediate stress state are evaluated for a crushed silica sand. In addition, the effects of Portland cement content and granulated rubber contents on anisotropic behavior of the sand are investigated. Bender elments are mounted on triaxial specimens both in vertical and horizontal directions to measure the shear wave velocity and hence maximum shear modulus at the end of consolidation as well as during shearing up to large strains at critical state condition, as an index of evaluating the fabric evolution. The effects of principal stress rotation and stress paths reveals the crucial role of soil anisotropy on the behavior of clean sand. However, adding either cement or granulated rubber to the sand has considerably decreased anisotropy.