Abstract
Soil water characteristic curves (SWCC) and soil water evaporation curves both represent the laws of water content variation in the natural state. Aiming to investigate the relationship between them further, Hunan sand with six dry densities were used in this study, and a series of experimental studies were performed. This study developed the application of evaporation curves in geotechnical engineering, reduced the workload of measuring soil water characteristic curves, and explored the relationship between evaporation rate and fractal dimension. Through the indoor tests, we measured soil water characteristic curves of specimens and soil water evaporation curves at different temperatures and explored the relationship between these two curves. In this study, a model was developed that allows the conversion from soil water evaporation curves to soil water characteristic curves, which is an equation about matrix suction ψ versus cumulative time t. Further, two prediction methods are developed, which are derived based on the Fredlund–Xing model and based on the Bird model, respectively. The proposed methods were validated using soil water evaporation tests of Hunan sand with six dry densities at three ambient temperatures, and the results showed that good prediction performances were achieved using these two methods.
Highlights
Unsaturated soil is a three-phase porous medium composed by soil particles, water, and gas. e contents of soil constituents strongly impact its engineering properties, among which water content is directly related to the engineering properties, such as pore structure, strength, and permeability coefficient
Analysis of Soil Water Evaporation Test Results. e change rules of water content during soil water evaporation were calculated based on the measured weight of specimens, and the results are shown in Figure 3. e drainage process was consistent across the specimens at the three ambient temperatures, and they were all clearly distinguished into three stages, that is, two stages of linear variation and a transition stage
Free water is removed from the soil, and the ambient temperature, air humidity, and wind speed are the dominant factors affecting the evaporation rate at this stage [4, 15]. e water transports on the planar surface of soil are dominated by the percolation of capillary water
Summary
Unsaturated soil is a three-phase porous medium composed by soil particles, water, and gas. e contents of soil constituents strongly impact its engineering properties, among which water content is directly related to the engineering properties, such as pore structure, strength, and permeability coefficient. E soil water evaporation is a dynamic process that shows a decreasing trend of water content as the accumulation time increases. E indoor test is a simulation of the soil water evaporation process in a stable environment, and it can effectively measure the changes in water content under the effect of evaporation [4]. The soil water characteristic curves indicate that water contents decrease with increasing matrix suction [6, 7]. E results of soil water evaporation tests and soil water characteristic curve tests (SWCCs) show that these two curves have many same performances, which means there are some correlation between them. E study of this interconnection facilitates the applications of evaporation curves and soil water characteristic curves in practical engineering and reduces the workload of experimental measurements The soil water characteristic curves indicate that water contents decrease with increasing matrix suction [6, 7]. e results of soil water evaporation tests and soil water characteristic curve tests (SWCCs) show that these two curves have many same performances, which means there are some correlation between them. e study of this interconnection facilitates the applications of evaporation curves and soil water characteristic curves in practical engineering and reduces the workload of experimental measurements
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