Suction variations and soil fabric of swelling compacted soils

This study addresses firstly the soil fabric variations of loose and dense compacted soil samples during a single wetting/drying cycle at suctions between 0 and 287.9 MPa using mainly the mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests. Two suction techniques were employed to apply this wide suction range: the osmotic technique for suctions less than 8.5 MPa, and the vapor equilibrium or salt solution technique for suctions higher than 8.5 MPa. Secondly, the soil water retention curves (SWRCs) were predicted by the MIP test results for both loose and dense soil samples. A reasonable correspondence between MIP results and SWRCs was found on the wetting path at lower suctions close to saturation and on drying path at higher suctions.