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Initial Surmises from a Field Study of Suction Behaviour of Tropical Unsaturated Residual Soils
Harwant Singh Fac. of Resource Science & Technology, Uni. Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia. Bujang K. Huat Dept. of Civil Engineering, Uni. Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Faisal Ali Dept. of Civil Engineering, Uni. of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
S. Mariappan Dept. of Civil Engineering, Uni. of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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ABSTRACT |
The generally unsaturated residual soils segment located above the groundwater table possess negative pore water pressures. This amount of water content and resulting matric suction is an important geotechnical relationship for the unsaturated residual soil. This paper describes a field study that examined the water content and matric suction in the unsaturated weathered residual soil over one of the commonly found soil/rock types constituting the tropical Malaysian terrain i.e. residual soil over sandstones at various weathering grades. The soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) was found to be characterized by two distinct curves, a wetting (sorption) curve and a drying (desorption) curve, each showing distinctive water retention propensity. Higher weathering grades appear to have a higher suction for a given water content.
Keywords: unsaturated residual soils, weathered sandstones, weathering grades, matric suction, soil- water characteristics.
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