We can determine the water retention behaviour of soils/porous materials over a wide range of suction.
Description
We use the high-capacity tensiometer for accurate measurement of matric suction in the range 0-1.5 MPa and the WP4 Dewpoint Potentiameter for measurement of total suction in the range 1-50 MPa.
Specimens are sampled using a cutting ring for accurate measurement of the specimen volume. This measurement, in conjunction with the measurement of the gravimetric water content, allows the water retention behaviour to be characterised in terms of degree of saturation (Sr), void ratio (e) and water ratio (ew) An example of water retention curve is shown in the figure for Speswhite kaolin reconstituted from slurry.
For accurate measurement, we adopt the approach one specimen-one data point. However, we can also perform multiple measurements on the same sample.