• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.448-454
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• 2007

This study was conducted to develop a 100 kPa soil tensiometer mainly consisted of a porous ceramic cup, water-holding tube, and a digital vacuum gauge, through theoretical design analysis and experimental performance evaluation. Major findings were as follows. 1. Theoretical analysis showed that air entry value of a porous media decreased as the maximum effective size of the pore increased, and the maximum diameter of the pores was $2.9\;{\mu}m$ for measuring up a 100 kPa of soil-water tension. 2. Property analysis of tensiometer porous cups supplied in Korean domestic market indicated that main components were $SiO_2$ and $Al_2O_3$ with a porosity range of $33.8{\sim}49.3%$. 3. The porous cup selected through sample fabrication and air-permeability tests showed weight ratios of 87% and 11% for $Al_2O_3$ and $SiO_2$. The analysis of SEM (scanning electron microscope) images showed that the sample was sintered at temperatures of about $1150^{\circ}C$, which consisted of pores with sizes of up to 25% of those for commercial porous cups. 4. The prototype soil tensiometer was fabricated using the developed porous cup and a digital vacuum gauge that could measure water tension with a pressure of 85 kPa in air tests. 5. In-soil tests of the prototype conducted during a period of 25-day drying showed that soil-water tension values measured with the prototype and commercial units were not significantly different, and soil-water characteristic curves could be established for different soils, confirming accuracy and stability of the prototype.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.139-152
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• 1996

In order to treat flow problems for unsaturated soils, it is necessary to obtain the soil-water characteristic curves which show nonlinear relationship between metric suction and volumetric water content. With two different pleasuring devices, measurements of the matric suction were taken for Jumoonjin sand, Hangang sand, and weathered granite soils with different fined. Experimental parameters which can describe experimental formulas for the soil-water characteristics were determined by using the data obtained from the experiment. Among experimental formulas of previous researchers, that of van Genuchten(1980) agreed well with the results of experiments. For weathered granite soils, the parameters increased with the increase of fine contents, Therefore, the soil-water characteristic for a weathered soil can be estimated by using Parameters corresponding to its fine contents.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.1250-1255
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• 2010

In this study, in order to examine the hydraulic characteristics for a crushed stone mat. it was accomplished discharge capacity test and soil-water characteristic curve(SWCC) with the object of the research. From the test result, it produced propriety mixed ratio of the crushed stone which mixes the sand. at the time of crushed stone 100% where it does not mixes the sand it appeared that permeability was biggest. increase of shock and content of the sand showed decrease of air entry value.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.261-273
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• 1993

In order to study hydraulic properties and mechanical properties on unsaturated region, soil-water retention curve was obtained for suction plate method and pressure plate method, respectively. To investigate permeability of unsaturated soil and soil-water retention curve at the same time, unsaturated permeability tests using an improved Richard's method were performed on Joomoonjin Sand. These experimental results were compared with those by empirical equations. The relationship between air entry value and saturated permeability of filter was obtained for selecting a proper filter in unsaturated soil tests.

• 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 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.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.2369-2379
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• 2013

The Soil-Water Characteristics Curve (SWCC) is affected by the initial density of soil under unsaturated condition. Also, the characteristic of hydraulic conductivity is changed by the initial density of soil. To study the effect of initial density of unsaturated soil, SWCC and the Hydraulic Conductivity Function (HCF) of Jumoonjin sand with various relative densities, 40%, 60% and 75% were measured in both drying and wetting processes. As the results of SWCC estimated by van Genuchten (1980) model, the parameter related to Air Entry Value(AEV), ${\alpha}$ in the wetting process is larger than that in drying process, but the parameters related to the SWCC slope, n and the residual water content, m are larger than those in wetting process. The AEV is increased or Water Entry Value (WEV) is decreased with increasing the relative density of sand. The AEV is larger than the WEV at the same relative density of sand. As the results of HCF estimated by van Genuchten (1980) model which is one of the parameter estimation methods, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity maintained at a saturated one in the low level of matric suctions and then suddenly decreased just before the AEV or the WEV. The saturated hydraulic conductivity in drying process is larger than that in wetting process. The saturated hydraulic conductivity is decreased with increasing the relative density of sand in both drying and wetting processes. Also, the hysteresis in unsaturated HCFs between drying and wetting process was occurred like the hysteresis in SWCCs. According to the test results, the AEV on SWCC is decreased and the saturated hydraulic conductivity is increased with increasing the initial density. It means that SWCC and HCF are affected by the initial density in the unsaturated soil.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.339-349
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• 2020

This study investigates the feasibility of using the results of the UPV (ultrasonic pulse velocity) test to assess the UCS (unconfined compressive strength) of unsaturated soil. A series of laboratory tests was conducted on samples of unsaturated lateritic soils of northern Taiwan. Specifically, the unconfined compressive test was combined with the pressure plate test to obtain the unconfined compressive strength and its matric suction (s) of the samples. Soil samples were first compacted at the designated water content and subsequently subjected to the wetting process for saturation and the following drying process to its target suction using the apparatus developed by the authors. The correlations among the UCS, s and UPV were studied. The test results show that both the UCS and UPV significantly increased with the matric suction regardless of the initial compaction condition, but neither the UCS nor UPV obviously varied when the matric suction was less than the air-entry value. In addition, the UCS approximately linearly increased with increasing UPV. According to the investigation of the test results, simplified methods to estimate the UCS using the UPV or matric suction were established. Furthermore, an empirical formula of the matric suction calculated from the UPV was proposed. From the comparison between the predicted values and the test results, the MAPE values of UCS were 4.52-9.98% and were less than 10%, and the MAPE value of matric suction was 17.3% and in the range of 10-20%. Thus, the established formulas have good forecasting accuracy and may be applied to the stability analysis of the unsaturated soil slope. However, further study is warranted for validation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2016

This study presents the numerical results of soil-water characteristic curve for sandy soil by pore network model. The Jumunjin sand is subjected to the high resolution 3D X-ray computed tomographic imaging and its pore structure is constructed by the web of pore body and pore channel. The channel radius, essential to the computation of capillary pressure, is obtained based on the skeletonization and Euclidean Distance transform. The experimentally obtained soil-water characteristic curve corroborates the numerically estimated one. The pore channel radius defined by minimum radii of pore throat results in the slightly overestimation of air entry value, while the overall evolution of capillary pressure resides in the acceptable range. The relative permeability computed by a series of suggested models runs above that obtained by pore network model at high degree of saturation.