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Prediction of soil–water characteristic curve for Malan loess in Loess Plateau of China

基于物理特征的马兰黄土土–水特征曲线的预测方法

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Abstract

To predict the soil–water characteristic curve (i.e. SWCC) of natural and remoulded Malan loess from soil physical properties, one-point methods for determining the SWCC that are much simpler than experimental methods are proposed. The predicted SWCC is presented in the form of the BRUTSAERT equation, in which the four model parameters can be estimated from soil physical properties using the best correlations obtained in the present study along with one measured data point. The proposed one-point methods are validated using the measured SWCC data reported in the literature. The results of validation studies suggest that the proposed one-point methods can provide reasonable prediction of the SWCC for natural and remoulded Malan loess. The measured data point should be within the transition zone; the measured suction is suggested between 25 to 100 kPa for natural loess, while between 100 to 500 kPa for remoulded loess.

摘要

总结了已有的预测土–水特征曲线的方法; 评价了已有的黄土土–水特征曲线的研究; 提出并验证了基于物理特征预测原状及重塑马兰黄土脱湿土–水特征曲线的一点法; 比较了原状和重塑马兰黄土的土–水特征曲线。

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Acknowledgement

The first author gratefully acknowledges her appreciation to the Chinese Scholarship Council, which funded her Joint PhD research program. The third author thanks the support from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for his research programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, China

    Ping Li  (李萍)

  2. School of Geological & Surveying Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710054, China

    Tong-lu Li  (李同录)

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N6N5, Canada

    S. K. Vanapalli

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  1. Ping Li  (李萍)
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  2. Tong-lu Li  (李同录)
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  3. S. K. Vanapalli
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Correspondence to Tong-lu Li  (李同录).

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Foundation item: Project(41372329) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Project(2014CB744701) supported by the National Basic Research Program of China

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Li, P., Li, Tl. & Vanapalli, S.K. Prediction of soil–water characteristic curve for Malan loess in Loess Plateau of China. J. Cent. South Univ. 25, 432–447 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-018-3748-1

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