2005 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Laboratory measurement of matric suction in pyroclastic soil using vacuum and high-suction tensiometers
Authors : M. V. Nicotera, A. Tarantino
Published in: Unsaturated Soils: Experimental Studies
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
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The paper presents suction measurements on pyroclastic soils using vacuum tensiometer and high-suction tensiometers. Laboratory measurements with the vacuum tensiometer aimed at assessing the performance of this instrument, which had to be used for field measurement of matric suction. These measurements were also used to develop and validate a numerical model for predicting air cavity growth in the vacuum tensiometer. The model was intended to be a tool for detecting possible malfunctioning of the tensiometers in the field. Measurement with high-suction tensiometers aimed at corroborating the results of vacuum tensiometer measurements. When using high-suction tensiometers, contact can be better controlled and suctions approaching the limit value of the vacuum tensiometers (about 80 kPa) can be measured with no risk of cavitation.