Soil-water characteristics of unsaturated soils considering initial void ratio and hydraulic path

To investigate the effects of the initial void ratio on the soil-water characteristic curves of non-expansive clay under different hydraulic paths, the suction is imposed or measured using the pressure plate method. The experimental results show that the obvious hysteresis phenomenon can be observed in the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) with different initial void ratios. The main drying SWCCs of compacted specimens with different void ratios coincide with each other at the suction higher than a specific suction value when they are expressed by the relation between suction and water content. When the SWCC is expressed by the relation between suction and degree of saturation, the influence of the initial void ratio is highlighted. Moreover, a method to normalize the main drying and wetting SWCC in full suction range is proposed. Finally, a method to describe the hydraulic hysteresis behavior of specimens with different initial void ratios is proposed, and the predicted results are compared well with measured values.