Evaluation of instruments for measurement of suction in unsaturated soils

Abstract

The emphasis of traditional soil mechanics has been on saturated soils whose pore-water pressures are positive. However, many types of unsaturated soils, whose pore-water pressures are negative, have been encountered in geotechnical engineering. The measurement of negative pore-water pressure or soil suction is a pre-requisite to characterise the behaviour of unsaturated soils.