Abstract

OLARTE, Diego Lizana; AGUILAR BARDALES, Zenón  and  CALDERON CAHUANA, Diana. Estimation of the Soil-Water characteristic curve in sandy soils using the filter paper test. Tecnia [online]. 2023, vol.33, n.1, pp.42-51. ISSN 0375-7765.  http://dx.doi.org/10.21754/tecnia.v33i1.1397.

The mechanics of unsaturated soils is strongly related to the suction phenomenon that occurs between the solid particles of the soil, which changes when the water content of the soil does not remain constant. The Soil Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) provides information related to soil suction and water content. Various direct and indirect methods can be used to obtain such a curve. In this research, the SWCC for sands is obtained by implementing the filter paper test for this type of soil. For this, three samples of sandy soils from Lima - Peru (relative density between 20% and 60%) were tested following the wet path of the curve. The samples were stored for at least seven days until equilibrium was reached. In this way, discrete points of SWCC were obtained. SWCC equations such as those of Brooks and Corey (1964), Van Genuchten (1980), and Fredlund and Xing (1994) were used to fit the data and obtain their respective parameters for sandy soils. The results show that the filter paper test can be used to obtain the SWCC of sandy soils; and that the matric suction of sandy soils can be obtained by this method in a period of seven days, while a longer storage time may be required to reach equilibrium to obtain the total suction for these soils.

Keywords : suction; water content; soil water characteristic curve; wet path; filter paper test..

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