• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.27-35
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• 2004

The goal of this study is to investigate the feasibility of the reference state approach in determining the generalized soil-water characteristic curve that is essential fur characterization of unsaturated soil behavior. The soil-water characteristic curves are obtained from a number of specimens of fine-grained residual soils compacted with different void ratios. Based on the experimental test results, the feasibility of using the liquid limit state as the reference state for predicting the soil-water characteristic curve is verified. Finally, through the regression analysis of experimental data using the equation of Fredlund and Xing (1994), a reliable method is proposed to predict the generalized soil-water characteristic curve of fine-grained residual soils using the liquid limit state as the reference state.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.523-535
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• 2008

A simulated rainfall system was built, and the unsaturated characteristics were examined by execution of simulated rainfall system test and soil water characteristic curve cell test(SWCC Cell Test) under the various rainfall and slope conditions. With the results, the applicability of infiltration behavior under rainfall and soil water characteristic curve models to the unsaturated weathered granite soil was examined. At the results of comparison the volumetric water content and matric suction measured in the wetting process(under rainfall) with those in the drying process(leaving as it was) of the simulated rainfall system, the volumetric water content showed a difference of $2{\sim}5%$ and matric suction of about $3{\sim}10\;kPa$, indicating the occurrence of hysteresis. In addition, the difference was relatively larger in matric suction than in the volumetric water content, and this tells that the hysteresis behavior is larger in matric suction. When the soil water characteristic curve derived from measurements in simulated rainfall system test were compared with those from the soil water characteristic curve cell test, both methods produced soil water characteristic curves close each other in the wetting process and the drying process, but in both, there was a difference between results obtained from in the wetting process and those from in the drying process. Thus, when soil water characteristic curves are rationally applied to the design and stability analysis considering of the properties of unsaturated soil, it is considered desirable to apply the soil water characteristic curve of the wetting process to the wetting process, and that of the drying process to the drying process.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2009

Flow pump technique was used in order to determine the soil-water characteristic curve of weathered granite soils in Pocheon area. This technique enables measurement to be more convenient and accurate as it is based on the CU condition of triaxial compression test. Besides, it is also able to measure dry and moisture curves continuously since the test is controled by means of a computer automatically. In this study, not only a hydraulic conductivity of weathered granite soils at fully saturated state in Pocheon area, but also a soil-water characteristic curve throughout unsaturate flow tests were determined. In addition, Brooks and Corey's model and Genuchten's model were used to simulate the soil-water characteristic curve. On the basis of the simulation an unsaturate hydraulic conductivity was predicted.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.687-706
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• 2015

Methods commonly used to evaluate the improvement of lime-treated expansive soil include swelling characteristics and unconfined compressive strength. In the field, lime-treated expansive soils are in compacted unsaturated state. Soil water characteristic curves (SWCCs) represent a key parameter to interpret and describe the behavior of unsaturated expansive soil. This paper investigates the use of SWCC as a technique to evaluate improvements acquired by expansive soil after lime treatment. Three different lime contents were considered 2%, 4% and 6% by dry weight of clay. Series of tests were performed to determine the SWCC for the different lime content under curing periods of 7 and 28 day. Correlations between key features of the soil water characteristic curves of lime treated expansive soils and basic engineering behavior such as swelling characteristics and unconfined compression strength were established. Test results revealed that initial slope ($S_1$), saturated water content ($w_{sat}$), and air entry value (AEV) play an important role in reflecting improvement in engineering behavior achieved by lime treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.39-48
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• 2004

The purpose of this paper was to confirm the application of the equation of the soil-water characteristic curve on an unsaturated soil. To this ends, a series of suction test was conducted on the selected 4 kinds of soil which is located in Korea, using the modified pressure extractor apparatus. And it was carried out to analyze the experimental parameters which can describe the soil-water characteristics, were determined by using the data obtained from the experiment. From the results, it was found that the matric suction was varied according to the grain size distribution, amount of fine grain particle and void ratio. Also it was found that the residual volumetric water content was decreased with the void ratio, but the index related air entry value, the soil parameter related water content and the parameter with residual water content were increased with the void ratio. And the application of equation of the soil-water characteristic curve was confirmed for the various conditions and the various state by the comparison between the volumetric water content measured by the experiment and the predicted values.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.61-69
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• 2004

The aim of the work described in this paper was to confirm the application of the equation of the soil-water characteristic curves on an unsaturated soil. A series of suction test for unsaturated soils was conducted on the selected 4 kinds of soil using modified pressure extractor apparatus. And it was carried out to analyse The experimental parameters which can be describe the soil-water characteristics, were determined by using the data obtained from the experiment. From the results, it was found that The matric suction varied according to the grain size distribution, amount of fine grain particles and void ratio. Also it was found that the residual degree of saturation was decreased with in crease of the void ratio, but the pore size distribution index and air entry value were increased with in crease of the void ratio. And The application of the soil-water characteristic curve equation was confirmed for the various conditions and the various state by the comparison between the measured degree of saturation and the predicted degree of saturation.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.41-47
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• 2013

Well-graded and dense soils have good engineering properties. Unsaturated soil properties such as shear strength, compressibility and permeability are closely related to the soil-water characteristic curve of the soil. Therefore it is important to study the effects of the coefficient of uniformity and the porosity on the soil-water characteristic curve of the sandy soils, which are also related to the grain size distribution and the density of the soil, respectively. In this study soil-water characteristic curves (SWCCs) for six sandy soil specimens were investigated using Tempe pressure cells. The test data were best-fitted to Fredlund and Xing equation. The obtained fitting parameters and the characteristic points of SWCCs were discussed and correlated with the porosity and the coefficient of uniformity of the specimens. The results show that the smaller the porosity of the specimen becomes, the larger the value of the residual matric suction becomes, whereas the larger the coefficient of uniformity of the specimen becomes, the larger the value of the residual matric suction becomes. Regardless of the coefficient of uniformity, the smaller the porosity of the specimen, the flatter the max. slope of SWCC.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.03a
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• pp.147-152
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• 2001

This study investigated one-dimensional vertical infiltration to an unsaturated residual soil by numerical solutions, FDM. In order to estimate the parameters needed for numerical analysis, tire soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC) of Shinnae-dong soil, one of the most typical residual soils in Korea, were experimentally obtained. Then, the statistical analysis for obtaining the SWCC was performed. The numerical solution to the linearized governing equation for unsaturated groundwater flow provides the infiltration characteristics for the unsaturated residual soil represented by transient pressure profiles and water contents profiles.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2004.03b
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• pp.334-341
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• 2004

The coefficient of permeability is one of the most important properties in unsaturated soils. The permeability varies with change in the water content as the soil water characteristic curve(SWCC) does. Thus the permeability curve of unsaturated soils has the similar shape with the soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC). Therefore, the methodologies have been studied to simply predict the unsaturated permeability from the SWCC. In this study, the experimental tests of SWCC and permeability were carried out for domestic weathered granite soils. The SWCC test results were fitted to Fredlund and Xing's SWCC equation and then it was found that there are some relationships between the parameters of SWCC equation and the basic soil properties. Accordingly we used an ANN(artificial neural network) model to obtain the SWCC parameters from the basic soil properties. Finally, the coefficients of permeability were predicted from these results by a prediction model.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.520-525
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• 2001

It's strongly recommended to check upon the slope stability of soil nearby railroad, since the freezing-thawing repeat in long term may cause decrease of slope stability. The study is, therefore, focused on the strength characteristic transformation of soil, measuring it experimentally, throughout physical and mechanical tests operated by the freezing-thawing repeat tests. The sampling of weathered soil used for the embankment materials along the domestic railway lines are classified by parent-rock, and then collected after it in the first hand. It tells that Uniaxial strength and axial strain were decreased simultaneously as the frequency of freezing-thawing repeat increased and its range was reduced into 25～85 percentage off comparing to uniaxial strength of unfreezing-soils when about 100 times of freezing-thawing repeats occurred. Following the result of direct shear tests, the cohesion of freezing-soil with freezing-thawing repeats shows 11∼60 percentage less than that of unfreezing-soil but the change of internal friction angle of the soil is extremely slight, enough to ignore. As a result. it could be found that strength characteristic transformation has highly correlated with freezing-thawing repeat.