Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Effect of the Fines Content on How the Soil′s Moisture Reacts to Wetting and Drying Cycles

Abstract

Elizabeth MacAfee*

In order to comprehend the mechanism of a rainfall-induced landslide, it is necessary to conduct research on how soil moisture responds to climatic conditions. The purpose of this study is to investigate how fines content affects how soil moisture responds to repeated wetting and drying cycles. The dirt’s were instrumented with soil dampness sensors and they were exposed to 2 patterns of wetting and drying. All of the soil samples' moisture content decreased more quickly during the second drying cycle than during the first. However, the repeated wetting and drying cycles had less of an impact on the recovery of soil moisture during wetting. The soil moisture loss during drying is significantly influenced by the fines content. The fines content had little effect on the soil moisture's response to wetting. The wetting soil moisture responses can be simulated with some degree of accuracy, as demonstrated by the numerical seepage analyses' findings. However, there were significant discrepancies between the actual measurements and the simulated drying soil moisture responses. The findings suggested that during the repeated wetting and drying cycles, the soil may have experienced changes in soil structure, void ratio, or the formation of desiccated cracks that cannot be captured by a typical finite element seepage analysis.