On-sample water content measurement for a complete local monitoring in triaxial testing of unsaturated soils

José Munoz-Castelblanco (1) , Pierre Delage (2) , Jean-Michel Pereira (2) , Yu-Jun Cui (2)

1 navier umr 8205 - Laboratoire Navier
2 cermes - Géotechnique

To provide a complete local monitoring of the state of an unsaturated soil sample during triaxial testing, a local water content measurement device was adapted to a triaxial device comprising the measurement of local displacements (Hall effect transducers) and suction (High capacity transducer). Water content was locally monitored by means of a resistivity probe. The water content/resistivity calibration curves of an intact natural unsaturated loess from Northern France extracted by block sampling at two depths (1 and 3.3 m) were carefully determined, showing good accuracy and repeatability. The validity of two models giving the resistivity of unsaturated soils with respect to their water content was examined.

Keywords: suction; local monitoring; resistivity; triaxial testing; loess; unsaturated soil

Domains: Materials and structures in mechanics [physics.class-ph]; Materials and structures in mechanics [physics.class-ph]; Atomic Physics [physics.atom-ph]

José Munoz-Castelblanco, Pierre Delage, Jean-Michel Pereira, Yu-Jun Cui. On-sample water content measurement for a complete local monitoring in triaxial testing of unsaturated soils. Geotechnique, 2012, 62 (7), pp.597-604. ⟨10.1680/geot.10.P.129⟩. ⟨hal-00803370⟩