An Innovative Device for Determining the Soil Water Retention Curve Under High Suction at Different Temperatures

In order to characterize the water retention behavior of fine soils, very high suction values have to be applied. In this range of values, the vapor equilibrium technique is usually used. This paper presents an innovative device, a sorption bench, which permits the determination of the water retention curve of soil. By this new testing method, the testing time required is strongly reduced. In addition, this apparatus allows the controlling of the thermal conditions of the test and thus leads to better control of the applied suction as well as to determine the water retention curve for different temperatures. Another important added value of the device is the technical solution adopted, which permits the measurement at any time of the weight of the samples inside the desiccators. Consequently, one can define the water content kinetics without disturbing the drying or wetting processes.