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Water retention behavior of deformable soils-experiment and modeling

Abstract

The paper presents an experimental and modelling approach for the soil water retention behaviour of two deformable soils. The objective is to investigate the physical mechanisms that govern the soil water retention properties and to propose a constitutive framework for the soil water retention curve accounting for the initial state of compaction and deformability of soils. A granular soil and a clayey soil were subjected to drying over a wide range of suctions so that the residual state of saturation could be attained. The obtained soil water retention curves are synthesized and compared in terms of water content, void ratio, and degree of saturation, and are expressed as a function of the total suction. The observed features of behaviour are conceptualized into a modelling framework expressing the evolution of the degree of saturation as a function of suction. The proposed retention model makes use of the theory of elasto-plasticity and can thus be generalized into a hysteretic model applicable to drying-wetting cycles.

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Related concepts (28)
Water content
Water content or moisture content is the quantity of water contained in a material, such as soil (called soil moisture), rock, ceramics, crops, or wood. Water content is used in a wide range of scientific and technical areas, and is expressed as a ratio, which can range from 0 (completely dry) to the value of the materials' porosity at saturation. It can be given on a volumetric or mass (gravimetric) basis. Volumetric water content, θ, is defined mathematically as: where is the volume of water and is equal to the total volume of the wet material, i.
Soil mechanics
Soil mechanics is a branch of soil physics and applied mechanics that describes the behavior of soils. It differs from fluid mechanics and solid mechanics in the sense that soils consist of a heterogeneous mixture of fluids (usually air and water) and particles (usually clay, silt, sand, and gravel) but soil may also contain organic solids and other matter. Along with rock mechanics, soil mechanics provides the theoretical basis for analysis in geotechnical engineering, a subdiscipline of civil engineering, and engineering geology, a subdiscipline of geology.
Void ratio
The void ratio of a mixture is the ratio of the volume of voids to volume of solids. It is a dimensionless quantity in materials science, and is closely related to porosity as follows: and where is void ratio, is porosity, VV is the volume of void-space (such as fluids), VS is the volume of solids, and VT is the total or bulk volume. This figure is relevant in composites, in mining (particular with regard to the properties of tailings), and in soil science.
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