Journal of Yangtze River Scientific Research Institute ›› 2021, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (1): 84-88.DOI: 10.11988/ckyyb.20191335

• ROCK-SOIL ENGINEERING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

A Method for Predicting Air-entry Value of Deformable Soils Based on Van Genuchten Model

TAO Gao-liang1,2, LUO Chen-chen1, LI Li-hua1, LI Yi1, LI Zi-yue1   

  1. 1. School of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China;
    2. School of Urban Construction, Wuhan University of Technology,Wuhan 430023,China
  • Received:2019-10-31 Revised:2020-01-02 Online:2021-01-01 Published:2021-01-27

Abstract: Air-entry value, as an important parameter of soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC), needs to be predicted in researching the hydraulic and mechanic properties of unsaturated deformable soils. A simple prediction model for the air-entry value of deformable soils was built by combining the Van Genuchten (VG) model with the variation law of SWCC under compression deformation condition. To verify the rationality of the model, experimental SWCC of Hunan clay were measured using pressure plate instrument, which are exploited to further obtain the measured value of air-entry value with different initial void ratios. The measured and predicted values were well consistent, indicating that the proposed model is of good performance. Moreover, VG model is used to simplify and unify the existing models of unsaturated relative permeability coefficient, and the validity and simplicity of this approach is verified.

Key words: air-entry value, clay, soil-water characteristic curve, Van Genuchten model, permeability coefficient of unsaturated soils

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