The field of experimental unsaturated soil mechanics has grown considerably over the last decade. In the laboratory and in the field, innovative techniques have been introduced into mechanical, hydraulic, and geo-environmental testing. Normally, this information is widely dispersed throughout journals and conference proceedings and it is often difficult to identify suitable equipment and instrumentation for research or professional purposes. In this volume, however, the authors bring together the latest research in laboratory and field testing techniques, and the equipment employed, and examine the current state-of-the-art in a forum devoted solely to experimental unsaturated soil mechanics. The papers published in the proceedings were peer-reviewed by internationally-recognized researchers. The topics tackled by the papers include suction measurement, suction control, mechanical and hydraulic laboratory testing, geo-environmental testing, and field-testing.
Table of Contents:
Suction measurement
Lessons learnt from suction monitoring during centrifuge modeling
Pressure pulse technique for measuring diffused air volume
A new soil-water characteristic curve device
Soil suction measurement using the Xeritron Sensor in two different types of infiltration tests
on a swelling soil
Swelling and suction in clay minerals
The effect of structure on the water retention of soil tested using different methods of suction
measurement l
Suction control
Controlled suction oedometric tests: analysis of some experimental aspects
Behavior upon drying-wetting paths of Maghnia Bentonite (west of Algeria)
An investigation into hydro-mechanical behavior of an expansive soil using axis-translation and
vapor equilibrium techniques
Combining different controlled-suction techniques to study expansive clays
On the suction control techniques in studying the THM behavior of unsaturated soils
Determination of water retention curves of two bentonites at high temperature 7v
Mechanical testing in unsaturated soils
A direct shear box improved with the osmotic technique
Volume change measurement of partially saturated rockfill in triaxial tests
Advancement in oedometer testing of unsaturated soils
A tensile strength apparatus for cohesionless soils
Direct shear testing of interfaces in unsaturated soil
Measuring lateral pressures during suction-controlled one-dimensional consolidation
Determination of the shear strength of unsaturated soils using the modified ring shear apparatus
Experimental study of flowslide on reconstituted samples of pyroclastic soils: soil
characterization and testing devices
Mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils
Wetting paths upon shearing: experimental evidence and comparative analysis of two volcanic
soils in the area of Napoli and Roma
Seasonal variation of a subgrade soil resilient modulus in southern Brazil
Wetting and anisotropic consolidation behaviour of an expansive clay
Swell and shrink tests in modified oedometer apparatuses
A study of the shear strength of two unsaturated colluvium soils
Direct shear and compression behaviors for an unsaturated compacted soil with water
content and matric suction measurement
Investigations on the unsaturated stress-strain behaviour and on the SWCC of Hostun Sand
in a double-walled triaxial cell
Analysis of the deformability of compacted tropical residual soils
Stiffness of unsaturated compacted clayey soils at very small strains
Experimental and modeling of unsaturated soil behavior under stress path tests
Stresses and conjugate strain-increments in plotting experimental data for unsaturated soils
Influence of matric suction on the shear strength of a compacted Kaolonite under
unconfined conditions: Experimental results (Part 1)
Influence of matric suction on the shear strength of compacted Kaolin soil under
unconfined conditions: Shear strength prediction (Part 2)
Stress-strain behavior of an unsaturated residual soil from gneiss
Experimental study of the effect of cyclic suction loading on shear behavior of collapsible soils Influence of sample preparation technique on the stress-strain behaviour of unsaturated soils
An elastoplastic hydro-mechanical model for unsaturated compacted soils
Seismic compression behaviour of non-plastic silty sands
An empirical relationship for evaluating collapsible settlements of volcanic ash sandy soil
A direct testing method for the tensile strength of compacted clays
Hydraulic testing in unsaturated soils
Unsaturated soil diffusivity measurements
Quasi-steady centrifuge method for unsaturated hydraulic characterization
Numerical modeling of constant flow method for measuring unsaturated hydrologic properties
The centrifuge permeameter for unsaturated soils (CPUS)
Experimental hydraulic measurements in an unsaturated swelling soil using the dual-energy
gamma-ray technique
Hydraulic behaviour of unsaturated soils
Establishment of new tropical soils differentiation factors considering suction and soil genesis
Assessment of Fredlund & Xing’s soil-water characteristic equation for tropical soils
An experimental evaluation of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity functions for a
quasi-saturated compacted soil
Soil-water characteristics and volume change behavior of an artificially cemented expansive clay
Some remarks on physicoempirical models for the prediction of the soil water retention curve
Determination of the soil-water characteristic curve of undisturbed colluvium soils
Use of soil-water characteristics curve in determination of stability of embankments during
drying and wetting processes
A model to predict the soil water characteristics of sand mixtures
Evaluation of air permeability of unsaturated sandy soils
Evaluation of moisture-suction characteristics of a lateritic soil submitted to infiltration by
caustic liqueur
Gas permeability evolution of a sand/bentonite during controlled-suction paths
Water retention curves of lime stabilised soil
Investigating water retention characteristics upon wetting paths using water-undrained
compression tests
Estimation of the soil-water characteristic curve of coarse-grained soils using one point
measurement and simple properties
Microstructure investigation
Compressibility and fabric of an unsaturated compacted swelling soil
Influence of moisture content on porosity features of Red clay
Chemical and mineralogical properties of Residual tropical soils and their relationships
with selected geotechnical properties
Techniques of sample preparation of artificial cemented highly collapsible soil
Microstructure of clay-sand mixtures at different hydration states
Drying induced alteration to the microstructure of a tropical soil
Geo-environmental testing
Temperature effects on the water content-suction relation of two soils
On the retention properties of a polluted sand-silt mixture
Image analysis to determine the dispersion coefficient and dispersivity in capillary
and saturated zone
An experimental evidence in desiccation cracking in sandy silt
Thermo-hydro-mechanical tests using vapor and liquid transfer on a clay based mixture
Assessment of swell-shrinkage behavior of compacted sedimentary residual soil for
potential use in landfill liner
Field measurement and monitoring in field applications
Laboratory versus field values of unsaturated soil diffusivity
Further tests on the fissuring of clay fill at the Thorngumbald flood embankment
In situ testing of unsaturated organic soils
Field monitoring of matric potential and soil water content in the chalk unsaturated zone
The use of the ground penetrating radar, GPR, as a non intrusive method to
measuring soil water content
Instrumentation and matric soil suction measurement in a decomposed granite soil slope
Monitoring matric suction profiles in partially saturated pyroclastic topsoil slopes
Numerical modelling of soil suction measurements in pyroclastic soils
First results of a monitoring experiment for the analysis of rainfall induced landslides A
Evaluation of evapotranspiration from alternative landfill covers at the Rocky Mountain Arsena
About the Author :
A. Tarantino, Universita degli Studi di Trento, Trento, Italy E. Romero, Universita degli Studi di Trento, Trento, Italy, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain Y.J. Cui, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees, Paris, France
