Abstract:The excavation of soil in deep foundation pit is an unloading process, in which the stress state of soil changes constantly. In order to consider the effect of stress path on soil, the undisturbed soft clay of Shanghai deep tunnel project was tested by GDS triaxial apparatus under different stress paths. The stress-strain relationship, pore water pressure variation law, effective stress path and deformation characteristics of soil under different stress paths were analyzed. The results show that the stress path has great influence on the characteristics of soil such as peak strength, pore pressure, effective stress path and sample deformation, which should be considered in engineering. Moreover, special attention should be paid to the possibility of damage when excavating and unloading, even if the deformation is small. Sudden damage should be prevented.