Soil–Water Retention Curves Derived as a Function of Soil Dry Density

Abstract

The soil–water retention curves (SWRC) of soil plays a key role in unsaturated soil mechanics, which is a relatively new field of study having wide applications particularly in geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering. SWRCs were used to evaluate the ability of unsaturated soils to attract water with various water contents and matric suctions. Drying and wetting SWRCs for a sandy soil with different dry densities were studied in a laboratory. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance, image processing technology, and mercury intrusion porosimetry were used to characterize the microscopic mechanisms of pore size distribution in the soil. Soil–water retention in the soil samples was strongly dependent on the dry density. With zero matric suction, soil samples with a higher dry density had a lower initial volumetric water content. Volumetric water content changed at a slower rate when values of matric suction increased in soils with a higher dry density. Soil samples had residual matric suction and a larger air-entry value with a smaller slope of the SWRC when they had a higher density. Dry density change is mainly responsible for the large pores. The number of large pores decreased as dry density increased. As the dry density increased, the area of macropores occupying the largest portion decreased, while the area of mesopores and micropores increased. Minipores accounted for the smallest proportion of total area and they were nearly constant. The proportion of large diameter pores decreased relative to pores with small diameters in the tested soils. The total pore volume was lower for soil specimens that had larger dry densities, as compared to relatively loose specimens. There was hysteresis between the drying and wetting curves for all soil samples. Hysteresis decreased as the dry density of the soil increased. The different liquid–solid contact angle was the main factor causing hysteresis of SWRC.