Study on the Effect of Soil Type and Salinity on Water–Soil Characteristic Curves of Saline Soils Based on the Vapor Balance Technique

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The soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) describes the relationship between water content and soil suction, which is an important tool for determining the engineering properties of unsaturated soil. By measuring SWCC through vapor equilibrium technique, which could obtain soil suction up to 309 MPa, this paper explored the influences of the soil type and salt content on SWCC of saline soil. The experimental results illustrate that fine‐grained saline soil had a good water‐holding capacity, which had a higher air entry value and slower dehydrate rate. The study also brings out the observation that salt had negligible influence on soil suction and parameters effecting SWCC in low suction range; however, this effects was slight until it disappeared with the suction increasing.