Estimation of the water retention curve for unsaturated clay

Abstract

Mir Mohammad Hosseini, S. M., Ganjian, N. and Pashang Pisheh, Y. 2011. Estimation of the water retention curve for unsaturated clay. Can. J. Soil Sci. 91: 543–549. Extensive laboratory tests are essential in order to determine the soil water retention curve, defined as the relationship between water content and suction, in an unsaturated soil. These laboratory tests are usually costly and time consuming. Moreover, for most practical problems, it has been found that approximate unsaturated soil properties are adequate for analysis. Thus, empirical procedures for predicting unsaturated soil parameters would be invaluable. The water retention curve can be estimated using soil properties to avoid the costs of experimental methods. Estimation of the water retention curve based on index properties is highly desirable due to its simplicity and low cost. Here, a model for the estimation of the soil water retention curve for fine soils is introduced, which takes the plasticity index and fine content into account, and is based on the Van Genuchten and Fredlund-Xing equations. The proposed equations are validated by comparing measured and simulated results. The curves predicted with these models were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results.