A new triaxial apparatus for testing soil water retention curves of unsaturated soils under different temperatures

Abstract

This paper presents a new triaxial apparatus for testing soil water retention curves (SWRCs) under different temperatures. The components of this modified apparatus, as well as the special features of each component, were described. The key part of this innovative apparatus was the temperature control system, which was cooperated with a loading system and a suction control system. Different methods of heating were compared and a more effective method, which used a heating element around the pressure chamber, was consequently adopted. Under different temperatures (25, 40, and 60 °C) and different net mean stresses (40, 100, and 200 kPa), typical results from the SWRCs tests for unsaturated silty clay were presented and analyzed. The experimental results show that the volumetric water content reduces with the increasing temperature at constant suction.

Impact of Uniaxial Mechanical Perturbation on Structural Properties and Smectite Porosity Features: Ion Exchanger Efficiency and Adsorption Performance Fate

“…Montmorillonite fractions are characterized by high porosity and a total volume which essentially depends on the water content, the water saturation, and the water retention mechanisms. Other intrinsic/multiscale parameters ranging from the geological genesis to the individual layer nanometric properties influence the possible deformations [92][93][94][95]. is work investigates the response of metal-exchanged montmorillonite specimens (i.e., exchangeable cations are Co 2+ or Cd 2+ ) to uniaxial mechanical stress ensured by an oedometric test (loading/unloading).…”

A deformation-dependent soil-water characteristic surface model considering hysteresis

“…Soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) is adopted to represent the relationship between water content and suction of unsaturated soils. SWCC is also a primary method for studying problems about seepage, deformation, strength or other mechanical and hydraulic behaviours of unsaturated soil [1][2][3][4]. Early work on SWCC normally assumes that water content and suction share a unique correspondence [5][6][7].…”