Laboratory Preparation of Specimens for Simulating Field Moisture Conditions of Partially Saturated Soils

Due to the significant effect of soil moisture on the behavior characteristics of a soil, one of the primary requirements in the preparation of specimens of a partially saturated soil is to simulate the suction in the soil under prevalent field conditons. This objective may be achieved by the conditioning or pretesting treatment of a soil specimen, so that a desired suction in the specimen is attained prior to testing. Relatively simple equipment such as that described in this paper, is suitable for the required treatment of specimens representing partially saturated soils. This paper presents results of undrained triaxial tests and repeated loading tests on soil specimens treated by using the equipment mentioned previously. Test data from specimens without any suction treatment are presented for comparison purposes. Information obtained from these experiments indicates that the simulation of the field moisture condition of a soil cannot be achieved simply by reproducing the field moisture content of the soil. The conditioning or pretesting treatment of soil specimens by using apparatus such as that presented in this paper is believed to be a preferable method for the purpose of simulating field moisture conditions.