Investigating soil-water retention characteristics at high suctions using Relative Humidity control
File(s)e3sconf_eunsat2016_10007.pdf (3.17 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
A technique for controlling relative humidity (RH) is presented, which involves supplying a sealed chamber with a continuous flow of air at a computer-regulated RH. The desired value of RH is achieved by mixing dry and wet air at appropriate volumes and is measured for servo-control at three locations in the chamber with capacitive RH sensors and checked with a sensitive VAISALA sensor. The setup is capable of controlling RH steadily and continuously with a deviation of less than 0.2% RH. The technique was adopted to determine wetting soil-water retention curves (SWRC) of statically compacted London Clay, under both free-swelling and constant volume conditions. The RH within the chamber was increased in a step-wise fashion, with each step maintained until vapour equilibrium between the chamber atmosphere and the soil samples was established. Independent filter paper measurements further validate the method, while the obtained retention curves complement those available in the literature for lower ranges of suction.
Date Issued
2016-09-12
Date Acceptance
2016-05-15
Citation
E-UNSAT 2016, 2016, 9 (E3S Web Conf.), pp.10007-10007
Publisher
EDP Sciences
Start Page
10007
End Page
10007
Journal / Book Title
E-UNSAT 2016
Volume
9
Issue
E3S Web Conf.
Copyright Statement
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2016. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Grant Number
Skempton Scholarship
Source
3rd European Conference on Unsaturated Soils
Publication Status
Published
Start Date
2016-09-12
Finish Date
2016-09-14
Coverage Spatial
Paris, France