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You are here: Home / Research / Testing Facilities and Equipments / Consolidation and Swell Testing Systems / SWCC Machine

SWCC Machine

Equipment picture

Description

The SWCC machine is used for determining the influence of the stress states on the Soil Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) of a soil sample. This system is developed to perform SWCC test, conforming to ASTM D6836-16. This system allows determination of both wetting and drying SWCC. The suction is generated using a pro pneumatic APC at the top of the sample and a pro hydraulic APC at the base, applying the axis translation technique. Some of the equipment features are as follows

  • Air-tight cell fitted with High Air Entry Disc ( 5 bar) for 70 mm diameter and 20 mm height sample.
  • Internal submersible load cell.
  • On-board data logging with large data storage (up to 14 million records) using SD card (8GB standard).
  • High speed sensor conversion (24 bit, up to 4000 samples/sec).
  • Frame can also be used with the same cell for constant rate-of-strain (CRS) and Consolidation tests.

Testing Ranges

Purpose:

  • Develop wetting and drying soil water characteristic curves for soils.
  • Obtain the unsaturated shear strength parameters.
  • Develop stress paths for field applications.
  • Establish the relationship between stress state variables and deformation strain state variables for unsaturated soil.
  • Determine the fluid flow conditions in unsaturated soils and obtain unsaturated coefficient of permeability.
  • Determine the relationship between matric suction pressure and the moisture holding capacity of soils for various confinements.

Ranges:

  • Maximum Frame Capacity: 15kN
  • Load cell: 25 kN
  • Automatic Pressure controller
    • Hydraulic: 1000kPa
    • Pneumatic: 1000kPa
  • LSCT Displacement Transducer: 25 mm X 0.001 mm
  • Pressure Transducer: 10 Bar
  • Maximum Cell Capacity: 2000 kPa

Material Properties

  • Characterize matric potential of unsaturated soils with varying moisture contents.
  • Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity.

Sample output graph

Field Applications

  • Design parameters for earthen dams, levees, retaining wall
  • Modeling water distribution and flow in unsaturated soil.
  • Designing foundation on unsaturated soils.

Publications

  • Puppala, Anand J., Koonnamas Punthutaecha, and Sai K. Vanapalli. “Soil-water characteristic curves of stabilized expansive soils.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 132, no. 6 (2006): 736-751.
  • Hoyos, L. R., H. R. Thudi, and A. J. Puppala. “Soil-water retention properties of cement treated clay.” In Problematic Soils and Rocks and In Situ Characterization, pp. 1-8. 2007.
  • Punthutaecha, K., and A. J. Puppala. “SOIL-WATER CHARACTERISTICS OF FLY ASH STABILIZED SOIL.

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