A Dynamic Method for Determining the Soil Water Characteristic Curve for Coarse-Grained Soils
Rassam DW, Williams DJ
(Received 16 July 1998; accepted 5 August 1999)

Abstract
The air-entry suction is an extremely important parameter in the water characteristic curve, but is difficult to identify when using conventional static methods such as the pressure plate apparatus. In the dynamic method described herein, instantaneous measurement of matric suction and water content are acquired from a soil specimen undergoing a slow drying cycle with the aid of a tensiometer and a soil moisture probe, respectively. The method offers a quick and reliable way of quantifying the drying soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) for matric suctions of up to 80 kPa. The large number of data points acquired make it easy to obtain an accurate estimate of the air-entry suction. It is particularly effective for soils ranging from medium sands to sandy silts where a nearly continuous SWCC is provided.

Keywords:
air-enry suction (AES),, geotechnical, matrix suction, soil-moisture probe, soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC), tensiometer, unsaturated soils, volumetric water content

Paper ID: GTJ23107

ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.
Author Rassam DW, Williams DJ Title A Dynamic Method for Determining the Soil Water Characteristic Curve for Coarse-Grained Soils Symposium , Committee on