Water retention curve of GCLs using a modified sample holder in a chilled-mirror dew-point device

The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of using a modified chilled-mirror dew-point apparatus to quantify the water retention curve of GCLs. The conventional configuration of the chilled-mirror dew-point device allows the measurements of water potentials under zero confinement pressure condition only. A simple approach is proposed in this study to enable the chilled-mirror dew-point device to measure GCLs water retention curves on the wetting path in terms of the upper and the lower boundaries of the confining conditions (i.e., free swelling and constant volume condition, respectively). The proposed method needs neither additional equipment nor special test procedures. The test results obtained from this study are discussed in the light of the results reported in the literature where emphasis was on the effect of confinement condition on the water retention curves of GCLs and a satisfactory agreement is observed.