Analysis of applicability of SWRC equation to different types of soils and its prediction method considering initial dry density

Abstract

This paper is centered on the assessment of 3 soil-water retention curves (SWRC) equations for unsaturated soils, for its predictive capability with respect to different soil types. The fitting effects of van Genuchten equation, Fredlund and Xing equation and Brooks and Corey equation on clay, silt and sand are studied. The influence of different soils with different initial dry density on parameters in different equations is analyzed. A new SWRC prediction method considering the influence of initial void ratio is proposed, which assumes a linear relationship between the initial void ratio and the saturation under the same suction. By analyzing the test data of sand, the predicted results are compared well with test results.