A fractal basis for soil-water characteristics curves with hydraulic hysteresis

A soil-water characteristic curve with hydraulic hysteresis is derived using fractals by treating pores as either bodies or throats. As suction is increased along the main drying curve, drying of a body is controlled by the largest throat connected to it. As suction is reduced along the main wetting...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGéotechnique Vol. 62; no. 3; pp. 269 - 274
Main Authors RUSSELL, A. R, BUZZI, O
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Telford 01.03.2012
ICE Publishing
Subjects
Drying
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics
Engineering geology
Exact sciences and technology
Fractals
Hygroscopic water
Moisture content
Silt loam
Soil water
saturation
hydraulics
suction
partial saturation
silt
soils
loam
fractals
hysteresis
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Summary:A soil-water characteristic curve with hydraulic hysteresis is derived using fractals by treating pores as either bodies or throats. As suction is increased along the main drying curve, drying of a body is controlled by the largest throat connected to it. As suction is reduced along the main wetting curve, the absorbed water collects in the smallest bodies and throats first, and then fills larger bodies and throats in order of size. The curve is fitted to data for a silt loam. The fit is reasonable for main drying and wetting curves, but less good for scanning curves.
ISSN:0016-8505
1751-7656
DOI:10.1680/geot.10.P.119