Effect Of Grain Crushing And Grain Size On The Evolution Of Water Retention Curves

This paper complements existing datasets about the interplay between grain breakage and water retention behavior. Crushable granular materials characterized by finer and coarser initial grading compared to previous investigations (Gao et al. 2016) have been tested to obtain new evidences of hydro-mechanical coupling. High pressure oedometric compression tests are performed on two types of granular materials (Q-ROK sand and glass beads). After crushing, samples are transported and reconstituted to Tempe cells to evaluate their soil water retention curve (SWRC). In agreement with previous studies, the results show a clear correlation between the suction air-entry value (sAEV) and the degree of grain breakage. The co-evolution of grain size distribution (GSD) and SWRC have been interpreted by the unsaturated breakage mechanics model. Although it is shown that the model satisfactorily reproduces most of the results, a critical assessment of the model simulations is used to indicate possible enhancements of its performance.