Further note on the capillary forces in an ideal soil

Abstract

The new observations of Haines on the pressure deficiency of liquid in a soil-like aggregate confirm the theoretical deduction that the pressure deficiency falls off with increasing water content, but do not justify his belief in a high static stress as saturation is approached.A theorem is established connecting the static stress at any water content with the pressure deficiency and the dry area of the surface. This, together with general considerations of the energy conditions of physical equilibria, appears to dispose of the two assumptions from which the high values for the cohesive stress at saturation have been deduced.