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Measurement of a soil-water characteristic curve and unsaturated

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DOI: 10.1631/jzus.A1800593

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Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A (Applied Physics & Engineering)

ISSN 1673-565X (Print); ISSN 1862-1775 (Online)
www.jzus.zju.edu.cn; www.springerlink.com
E-mail: [email protected]

Correspondence:
Measurement of a soil-water characteristic curve and
unsaturated permeability using the evaporation
method and the chilled-mirror method#

Alfrendo SATYANAGA, Harianto RAHARDJO†‡, There has been a wide interest among research-
Zhe Hao KOH, Haneena MOHAMED ers studying unsaturated soil mechanics in exploring
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Techno- alternative and faster methods to evaluate SWCC for
logical University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
†
E-mail: [email protected] engineering practice. Merayyan and Miller (2006),
Peters and Durner (2008), Schindler et al. (2010a,
https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A1800593 2010b, 2015), and Peters et al. (2015) focused on the
measurement of SWCC using only the evaporation
1 Introduction method with HYPROP. Leong et al. (2003) and
Mantri and Bulut (2014) focused on the measurement
Fredlund and Rahardjo (1993) indicated that the of SWCC using only the chilled-mirror method. The
behavior of unsaturated soil is significantly dependent SWCC obtained from the dew point method was
on its soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC). There accurate for high suction ranges but was observed to
are many conventional methods for determining have much variability at low suction ranges.
SWCC. Tempe and pressure plate apparatuses are The simple evaporation method was first de-
commonly utilized in the laboratory to measure it veloped by Wind (1968) and measured the moisture
(Zhan et al., 2007; Fredlund et al., 2012; Rahardjo et content and tension in soil during the evaporation
al., 2012; Cai et al., 2014). A Tempe cell is used to process to obtain the coefficient of permeability of the
generate SWCC up to 100 kPa since it is provided soil. Schindler (1980) modified this method to sim-
with 1 bar (1 bar=1×105 Pa) high air-entry disc (Kas- plify the process using two tension shafts for the
sim et al., 2012; Rahardjo et al., 2019). A pressure measurement of suctions. In this study, SWCC tests
plate cell (provided with a 5 or 15 bar high air-entry were performed based on the concept of an evapora-
ceramic disc) is used to establish SWCC at suction tion method using HYPROP. HYPROP was utilized
ranges from 100 to 1500 kPa in combination with for SWCC measurements up to 100 kPa soil suction.
SWCC tests using the Tempe cell. These methods are The results are analysed using an interpolation
known to be reliable for SWCC determination; method by taking the average suction value from
however, they are tedious and time consuming measurements recorded in two tensiometers at dif-
(Fredlund, 2007). ferent depths. The assumption was made that linear-
ization errors were insignificant so that interpolation
‡
Corresponding author can be done accurately, as proven in previous inves-
# Electronic supplementary materials: The online version of this
article (https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A1800593) contains supplemen- tigations (Peters and Durner, 2008; Peters et al.,
tary materials, which are available to authorized users 2015). One of the advantages of the HYPROP test is
ORCID: Alfrendo SATYANAGA, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-
3849-2525; Harianto RAHARDJO, https://orcid.org/0000-0002- that it can simulate the natural evaporation process
8320-9170 which provides the closest representation of in situ
© Zhejiang University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of
Springer Nature 2019 evaporation (Wind, 1968). During the experiment, the
 Satyanaga et al. / J Zhejiang Univ-Sci A (Appl Phys & Eng) 2019 20(5):368-374 369

measurements are automatically recorded in the       a     

HYPROP-View® software at a constant interval.     ln    
      a   m     
Direct measurements of unsaturated permeability are   Sr  (100  Sr ) 1  (  )erfc ,
   s   
commonly carried out using rigid wall and flexible   
 

     
wall permeameters (Samingan et al., 2005; Vanapalli       
et al., 2007; Gallage et al., 2013; Priono et al., 2017). (1)
Direct measurements of unsaturated permeability
commonly take a very long time to complete (Huang where =1 when >a; =0 when ≤a; Sw is the
et al., 1998; Samingan et al., 2003; Zhai et al., 2017). calculated degree of saturation;  is the related soil
The object of this study was to investigate the suction (kPa); a, Sr, m, s, and r are fitting param-
feasibility of a combination between the evaporation
eters representing air-entry value (kPa), residual de-
method and the chilled-mirror method utilizing
gree of saturation (%), inflection point (kPa), standard
HYPROP and WP4C, respectively, to produce SWCC
deviation, and residual suction (kPa), respectively.
over a wide range of low to high suctions and by
The SWCC data were measured using HYPROP
incorporating a shrinkage curve for volume change
& WP4C and Tempe and pressure plate apparatuses.
corrections. The SWCC data obtained from these two
The experimental procedures for Tempe and pressure
methods were then verified using the conventional
plate apparatuses are given in ASTM (2002).
methods of the Tempe and pressure plate apparatuses.
Shrinkage tests were carried out using evaporation
In addition, the unsaturated permeability for suctions
tests on compacted soil specimens of the three soil
up to 100 kPa as measured using HYPROP was
mixtures at a controlled room temperature of 25 °C.
compared with (a) the unsaturated permeability val-
The details of the test procedures and the develop-
ues obtained from a direct measurement using a
ment of the shrinkage curve can be found in (Fredlund
modified Triaxial permeameter (Priono et al., 2017)
et al., 2002). The shrinkage test results were then used
and (b) the unsaturated permeability function ob-
to correct the SWCC data for total volume changes of
tained from the statistical method (Fredlund and Ra-
the soil specimen during the tests. As a result, SWCC
hardjo, 1993), in order to study the feasibility of
in terms of degree of saturation was obtained.
HYPROP for direct measurement of unsaturated
The fitting parameters of the SWCCs for the
permeability.
compacted soil mixtures are summarized in Tables 1
The theories of HYPROP and WP4C are pro-
and 2. The experimental data of the SWCC are pre-
vided in Data S1, including all governing equations,
sented in Figs. 1–3 which show that HYPROP and
experimental procedures, and explanations of varia-
WP4C can be used for obtaining SWCC data for
bles. Upon completion of SWCC testing using
suctions up to 5000 kPa. The evaporation method
HYPROP and WP4C, the results were generated,
using HYPROP was used to measure SWCC for suc-
presented, and discussed in this section. The index
tions up to 100 kPa whereas the chilled-mirror
properties and compaction curve of the soils investi-
method using WP4C was used to measure SWCC for
gated in this study are also provided in Data S1.
suctions between 500 and 5000 kPa. The measure-
ment times of 80S20K, 50S50K, and 20S80K soil
specimens from HYPROP tests are 3, 5, and 7 d,
2 Results and discussion
respectively. There was no measurement of SWCC
2.1 Soil-water characteristic curve for suctions between 100 and 500 kPa. The SWCC
Satyanaga et al. (2017)’s equation (Eq. (1)) was data from HYPROP were obtained from real-time
used to best fit SWCC data in this study. (continuous measurement) of suctions during the
tests. As a result, a good fitting curve of the SWCC
data from the HYPROP was obtained. The Fredlund
 ln(1   /  r ) 
Sw  1   and Xing (1994) equation was also used to best fit the
 ln(1  10 /  r ) 
6
experimental data of SWCC in Figs. 1–3. Best fitting
370 Satyanaga et al. / J Zhejiang Univ-Sci A (Appl Phys & Eng) 2019 20(5):368-374

lines from Satyanaga et al. (2017)’s equation were

found to be in good agreement with those from the
Fredlund and Xing (1994) equation. In addition, the
parameters from Satyanaga et al. (2017) were also
able to represent the variables of SWCC, such as
air-entry value and residual suction.

Table 1 Fitting parameters of SWCC obtained from

HYPROP and WP4C tests
Specimen a (kPa) m (kPa) s r (kPa)
80S20K 10 80 2.50 1000
50S50K 15 150 2.00 5000
20S80K 40 170 1.75 5000 Fig. 3 SWCC of soil mixture of 20S80K

Table 2 Fitting parameters of SWCC obtained from For the conventional method, the Tempe cell has
Tempe and pressure plate tests a ceramic plate with an air-entry value of 1 bar which
Specimen a (kPa) m (kPa) s r (kPa) can measure suction up to 100 kPa. The pressure plate
80S20K 8 100 3.00 1000 cell has a ceramic plate with an air-entry value of
50S50K 15 120 2.00 5000 15 bar which can be used to control suction up to
20S80K 40 150 1.75 5000 1500 kPa. This allows the development of SWCC for
the range of suctions between 0 and 1500 kPa.
However, because the ceramic disk has an air-entry
value limited to 15 bar, the conventional method
cannot be used to control suctions greater than
1500 kPa, and hence it has to be estimated from the
best fitting SWCC.
Figs. 1–3 indicate that the shapes of SWCC of
the three different soil mixtures as measured using the
conventional Tempe and pressure plate apparatuses
are similar to those obtained from measurements
using HYPROP and WP4C. In addition, the best fit-
ting parameters of SWCCs from the conventional
Fig. 1 SWCC of soil mixture of 80S20K Tempe and pressure plate apparatuses are of ap-
proximately the same value as those of SWCCs from
HYPROP and WP4C. This indicates that the evapo-
ration method combined with the chilled mirror hy-
grometer is a suitable alternative for measuring
SWCC.
From Figs. 1–3, it can be observed that the two
SWCCs are similar, especially in the suction range of
0–100 kPa. For suctions greater than 100 kPa, there
are slight differences between the two SWCCs which
may be due to the lack of data for certain suctions
between those methods. The differences between the
SWCC from the Tempe and pressure plate apparat-
Fig. 2 SWCC of soil mixture of 50S50K uses and the SWCC from HYPROP and WP4C for
 Satyanaga et al. / J Zhejiang Univ-Sci A (Appl Phys & Eng) 2019 20(5):368-374 371

specimens 80S20K are larger than the difference for permeability results from HYPROP are reliable. For
other soil specimens. However, the rates of differ- the 50S50K specimen, the modified Triaxial per-
ences are still acceptable since the air-entry value meameter results are also located close to the
(8 kPa), inflection point (100 kPa), and standard de- HYPROP and statistical method results, further con-
viation (3) of the SWCC from the Tempe and pressure firming the results from HYPROP and the statistical
plate apparatuses are close to the air-entry value method.
(10 kPa), inflection point (80 kPa), and standard de-
viation (2.5) of the SWCC from HYPROP and
WP4C.

2.2 Unsaturated permeability

The coefficients of permeability data are plotted

against the suction values for the three soil mixtures
80S20K, 50S50K, and 20S80K in Figs. 4–6, respec-
tively. The data obtained directly from the tests using
HYPROP were verified by the indirect measurement
of unsaturated permeability or the statistical method
(Childs and Collis-George, 1950) using the respective Fig. 4 Unsaturated permeability of the soil mixture of
SWCCs of the three soil mixtures. The procedure for 80S20K
the determination of unsaturated permeability using
the statistical method is given by Fredlund and Ra- Hyprop (lab data)
hardjo (1993) and Fredlund et al. (2012). Further- Statistical model
Triaxial permeameter (lab data)
more, the unsaturated permeability values from
HYPROP were compared with the permeability data
obtained from the direct measurements for 50S50K
by Priono et al. (2017). Priono et al. (2107) carried out
the unsaturated permeability tests using a modified
Triaxial permeameter.
The unsaturated permeability results obtained
from HYPROP tests were compared to those deter-
mined using the statistical method (Figs. 4–6). In Fig. 5 Unsaturated permeability of the soil mixture of
50S50K
addition, the unsaturated coefficients of permeability
of soil mixture 50S50K obtained from direct meas-
urements using an unsaturated modified Triaxial
permeameter (Priono et al., 2017) were also com-
pared with the unsaturated permeability from
HYPROP and the statistical method as demonstrated
in Fig. 5. The comparison showed good agreement
between the results obtained from these three meth-
ods, confirming the reasonableness of the unsaturated
permeability obtained from HYPROP. As illustrated
by the unsaturated permeability presented in
Figs. 4–6, the data points from HYPROP measure-
ments are located close to those determined by the Fig. 6 Unsaturated permeability of the soil mixture of
statistical method. This shows that the coefficient of 20S80K
372 Satyanaga et al. / J Zhejiang Univ-Sci A (Appl Phys & Eng) 2019 20(5):368-374

3 Conclusions under different temperatures. Journal of Zhejiang

University-SCIENCE A (Applied Physics & Engineering),
15(5):364-373.
1. The SWCC data from the conventional
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methods (Tempe and pressure plate apparatuses) and Childs EC, Collis-George N, 1950. The permeability of porous
the alternative methods (HYPROP and WP4C) were materials. Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 201(1066):
fitted using the equation of Satyanaga et al. (2017). 392-405.
The fitting parameters related to air-entry value, in- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.1950.0068
flection point, and standard deviation from both Fredlund DG, 2007. Slope stability hazard management
curves, agreed well and indicated that the combined systems. Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE A,
8(11):1695-1711.
SWCC data from the evaporation and chilled-mirror
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methods can be used to obtain SWCC with a wider Fredlund DG, Rahardjo H, 1993. Soil Mechanics for Unsatu-
range of suction. rated Soils. Wiley, New York, USA.
2. The unsaturated permeability data obtained Fredlund DG, Xing A, 1994. Equations for the soil-water
from HYPROP agreed with the data from direct characteristic curve. Canadian Geotechnical Journal,
measurement using a modified Triaxial permeameter 31(3):521-532.
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and the data from the statistical method. Hence,
Fredlund DG, Rahardjo H, Fredlund MD, 2012. Unsaturated
HYPROP can be used to expedite the measurement of Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice. John Wiley &
unsaturated permeability of soil for suctions up to Sons, Hoboken, USA.
100 kPa. Fredlund MD, Wilson GW, Fredlund DG, 2002. Representa-
3. The combination of SWCC tests using tion and estimation of the shrinkage curve. Proceedings of
HYPROP and WP4C offers a shorter experimental the 3rd International Conference on Unsaturated Soils,
p.145-149.
duration compared with the conventional method.
Gallage C, Kodikara J, Uchimura T, 2013. Laboratory
However, this method is applicable only for soils with measurement of hydraulic conductivity functions of two
air-entry values less than 100 kPa or higher than unsaturated sandy soils during drying and wetting
500 kPa. processes. Soils and Foundations, 53(3):417-430.
4. Further works are required to investigate the https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2013.04.004
applicability of this alternative method on different Huang SY, Fredlund DG, Barbour SL, 1998. Measurement of
the coefficient of permeability for a deformable
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volume change.
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Acknowledgements Kassim A, Gofar N, Lee LM, et al., 2012. Modeling of suction
The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance distributions in an unsaturated heterogeneous residual soil
from Prof. Qian ZHAI from Key Laboratory for RC and PRC slope. Engineering Geology, 131-132:70-82.
Structures of the Ministry of Education, Southeast University, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2012.02.005
China in providing the Chinese translation of the summary of Leong EC, Tripathy S, Rahardjo H, 2003. Total suction
the paper. The authors also acknowledge the assistances from measurement of unsaturated soils with a device using the
Mr. Jeremy TAN and Ms. Yu-ying WANG during the collec- chilled-mirror dew-point technique. Géotechnique, 53(2):
tion of the data in this study. 173-182.
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Hygrometer, and/or Centrifuge. ASTM D6836-02, Merayyan SM, Miller CJ, 2006. Determination of the soil-
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Cai GQ, Zhao CG, Li J, et al., 2014. A new triaxial apparatus nique. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on
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Peters A, Durner W, 2008. Simplified evaporation method for for quantifying the hydraulic properties of shrinking soils.
determining soil hydraulic properties. Journal of Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 178(1):
Hydrology, 356(1-2):147-162. 136-145.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.04.016 https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201300556
Peters A, Iden SC, Durner W, 2015. Revisiting the simplified Vanapalli SK, Garga VK, Brisson P, 2007. A modified per-
evaporation method: identification of hydraulic functions meameter for determination of unsaturated coefficient of
considering vapor, film and corner flow. Journal of permeability. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering,
Hydrology, 527:531-542. 25(2):191-202.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.05.020 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-006-9103-6
Priono, Rahardjo H, Chatterjea K, et al., 2017. Laboratory Wind GP, 1968. Capillary conductivity data estimated by a
investigation on hydraulic anisotropy behavior of simple method. In: Rijtema PE, Wassink H (Eds.), Water
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1034-1046. p.19-23.
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Rahardjo H, Satyanaga A, D’Amore GAR, et al., 2012. bimodal soil-water characteristic curve on the estimation
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Engineering Geology, 125:102-107. 151.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2011.11.009 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2017.09.025
Rahardjo H, Satyanaga A, Mohamed H, et al., 2019. Zhan LT, Chen P, Ng CWW, 2007. Effect of suction change on
Comparison of soil–water characteristic curves from water content and total volume of an expansive clay.
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centrifuge and dew point methods. Geotechnical and 706.
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https://doi.org/10.1139/t03-015 Data S1 Theory
Samingan AS, Leong EC, Rahardjo H, 2005. Estimating
permeability functions of Singapore residual soils.
Engineering Geology, 78(1-2):119-133.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2004.12.001 中文概要
Satyanaga A, Rahardjo H, Zhai Q, 2017. Estimation of
unimodal water characteristic curve for gap-graded soil.
题 目：综合蒸发法和冷镜露点法测量水-土特征曲线和非
Soils and Foundations, 57:789-801.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2017.08.009 饱和渗透系数
Schindler U, 1980. Ein schnellverfahren zur messung der 目 的：综合使用 HYPROP 和 WP4C 两种仪器，探索
wasserleitfähigkeit im teilgesättigten boden an 采用蒸发法和冷镜露点法测量大吸力范围的水-
stechzylinderproben. Archiv für Acker-und Pflanzenbau
土特征曲线，并采用收缩曲线对土体变形进行修
und Bodenkunde, 24(1):1-7 (in German).
正。
Schindler U, Durner W, von Unold G, et al., 2010a. The
evaporation method: extending the measurement range of 方 法：1. 采用 HYPROP 仪器，在 0~100 kPa 吸力范围内
soil hydraulic properties using the air-entry pressure of 测 量 土 体 的 水 - 土 特 征 曲 线 。 2. 当 吸 力 大 于
the ceramic cup. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil 600 kPa 时，采用 WP4C 仪器，测量土体的水-土
Science, 173(4):563-572. 特征曲线。3. 采用传统张力仪吸力板仪器，在
https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.200900201 0~500 kPa 吸力范围内测量土体的水-土特征曲
Schindler U, Durner W, von Unold G, et al., 2010b.
线。4. 采用 Satyanaga et al. (2017)公式，对实验
Evaporation method for measuring unsaturated hydraulic
数据进行拟合。5. 采用 HYPROP 仪器直接测量土
properties of soils: extending the measurement range. Soil
Science Society of America Journal, 74(4):1071-1083. 体的非饱和渗透系数。6. 采用蒸发法，获取干缩
https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2008.0358 曲线。
Schindler U, Doerner J, Mueller L, 2015. Simplified method 结 论：1. 采用 Satyanaga et al. (2017)公式，对实验数据进
 374 Satyanaga et al. / J Zhejiang Univ-Sci A (Appl Phys & Eng) 2019 20(5):368-374

行拟合，拟合参数直接关联到进气值、拐点及方 作为在低吸力范围内（<100 kPa）测量非饱和渗

差。拟合结果显示，不同仪器所收集的水-土特征 透系数的有效仪器。3. 当进气值小于 100 kPa 或
曲线的数据相互吻合，为水-土特征曲线的实验测 者大于 500 kPa 时，综合采用 HYPROP 和 WP4C
量提供了更大的吸力范围。2. 采用 HYPROP 仪器 可以有效缩短实验周期。
测量的非饱和渗透系数和采用传统改装的非饱 关键词：蒸发法；露点法；水-土特征曲线；非饱和渗透
和三轴实验数据基本吻合，因此，HYPROP 可以 系数

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