Effect of grain size distribution on soil-water characteristic curves of sandy soils

• Main Author: Sy, Jenell A Hui Zhen
• Other Authors: Leong Eng Choon
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Engineering::Civil engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143348
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) is described as the amount of water retained in a soil under equilibrium at a given matric potential. Using a Tempe cell and a flexible wall apparatus, characteristic curves for drying and wetting of soils (SWCC) were obtained for four sandy soils with different grain size distributions. The test data is best-fitted to Fredlund and Xing’s (1994) equation where the parameters were first initialized using the equations of the parameters proposed in Chin et al. (2010) method. Sands with poorer gradation have a lower air-entry value and water-entry value, but higher residual matric suction than that of uniform fine-grained sand. The SWCCs of the four sands have identical shapes. The Chin et al. (2010) method is also briefly investigated in determining SWCCs and it was discovered to be a useful method in determining drying SWCCs of different grain-size distributions.