Modelling Particle-Size Distribution and Estimation of Soil–water Characteristic Curve utilizing Modified Lognormal Distribution function
Satyanaga A. Rahardjo H. Zhai Q. Moon S.-W. Kim J.
May 2024Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Geotechnical and Geological Engineering
2024#42Issue 31639 - 1657 pp.
In unsaturated soil mechanics, the soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) is the most fundamental soil attribute. All seepage analyses require SWCC to generate the pore-water pressure and water content distribution within the soil layers. SWCC is often determined using laboratory procedures. However, the expensive cost, long testing time, and difficulty of the SWCC tests hinder the use of unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering practice. Models for predicting SWCC have been proposed in the literature; however, the equations cannot be applied to soils of a wide variety, and their parameters lack physical significance. This work used a modified lognormal distribution function to generate the equations that best suit the grain-size distribution (GSD) and the model that estimates SWCC for a wide range of soil types. The parameters of the proposed GSD equation have well-defined physical meanings. The model for estimating SWCC was established based on the link between soil pore-size distribution and dry density, void ratio, and saturated water content. The air-entry value of coarse-grained soil is a function of inflection point of SWCC and percentage of coarse particle. The air-entry value of fine-grained soil is a function of saturated water content. Experiments were carried out as part of this study to evaluate the proposed equation as well as its model. The proposed model to estimate SWCC was compared with other models. The proposed model is better than other models in the estimation of SWCC from GSD.
Grain-size distribution , Lognormal distribution , Soil–water characteristic curve , Unsaturated soil
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Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Ave, Nur-Sultan, 010000, Kazakhstan
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, Singapore
Key Laboratory of Concrete and Prestressed Concrete Structures of Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Key Laboratory of Concrete and Prestressed Concrete Structures of Ministry of Education
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