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Vapour Equilibrium and Osmotic Technique for Suction Control

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Book cover Laboratory and Field Testing of Unsaturated Soils

Abstract

The vapour equilibrium method and osmotic technique have gained widespread acceptance as reliable methods for controlling relative humidity and thereby suction in soil specimens. The ability to impose suction on soil specimens allows for drying and wetting stress paths to be imposed to evaluate resulting changes in strength, deformation and flow characteristics. The two methods presented and discussed in this paper have been adapted for use with a number of traditional laboratory tests including the oedometer, direct shear and triaxial tests. This report provides a summary of some recent developments and knowledge regarding the use of these techniques highlighting the limitations and drawbacks of the methods.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, 368 EITC Building, R3T 5V6, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    James A. Blatz

  2. Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, CERMES, Paris, France

    Yu-Jun Cui

  3. IDIA, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, San Juan, Argentina

    Luciano Oldecop

Authors
  1. James A. Blatz
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  2. Yu-Jun Cui
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  3. Luciano Oldecop
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to James A. Blatz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Università degli Studi di Trento, 38050, Trento, Italy

    Alessandro Tarantino

  2. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    Enrique Romero

  3. Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, 77455, Marne la Vallee, France

    Yu-Jun Cui

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Blatz, J.A., Cui, YJ., Oldecop, L. (2008). Vapour Equilibrium and Osmotic Technique for Suction Control. In: Tarantino, A., Romero, E., Cui, YJ. (eds) Laboratory and Field Testing of Unsaturated Soils. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8819-3_5

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