MOISTURE CURVE OF COMPACTED CLAY:

MERCURY INTRUSION M E T H O D
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By S. Prapaharan, 1 A. G. Altschaeffl,2 F. ASCE,

and B. J. Dempsey, 3 M. ASCE

INTRODUCTION

The in-service behavior of clayey road subgrade soils is affected by the

water content of that soil. This water content will reach an equilibrium
magnitude with time. Croney (1) reported the efforts of the British Road
Research Laboratory to predict this equilibrium water content. Dempsey
and Elzeftawy (3) developed a mathematical model to predict the mois-
ture movements that would occur. Both procedures for this prediction
require the knowledge of the soil moisture characteristic curve for the
soil as a precondition.

SOIL MOISTURE CHARACTERISTIC CURVE

The graph of the relationship between water content a n d suction is

the soil-moisture characteristic curve. Suction is the pore-water pressure
in a soil sample to which no external loads are being applied; it is com-
mon to plot the logarithm of suction in centimeters of water.
The soil moisture characteristic curve can be obtained by t w o methods:
(1) In desorption, by taking an initially saturated sample a n d applying
increasing external pressure to gradually dry the soil; a n d (2) in sorption,
by gradually wetting an initially dry sample.
These two methods usually give two different curves; this is the well-
known hysteresis effect. According to Hillel (4), the hysteresis effect is
attributed to: (1) The geometric nonuniformity of the individual pores,
called the "ink bottle" effect; (2) the difference in contact angle of the
advancing and receding meniscus; (3) entrapped air; and (4) swelling,
shrinking or aging p h e n o m e n a .
Water retained at low suction of u p to 14 psi (100 kPa) or 1,000 cm of
water depends primarily u p o n the capillary effect, and thus, is strongly
affected by the soil structure. Water retention in the higher suction range
is due increasingly to adsorption, as influenced by soil mineralogy.
Croney, et al. (2) have described t h e m e t h o d s u s e d to determine the
soil moisture characteristic curve: the tensiometer m e t h o d , the direct
suction method, the pressure plate method, a n d the centrifuge method.
Each of these methods requires days of time of testing. Because Purcell
(7) used mercury intrusion procedures to predict the water retention curves
'Grad. Instr. in Research, Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind.
2
Prof. of Civ. Engrg., Civ. Engrg. Bldg., Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette, Ind. 47907.
3
Prof. of Civ. Engrg., Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, 111.
Note.—Discussion open until February 1, 1986. To extend the closing date one
month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The
manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on
February 7, 1985. This paper is part of the Journal of Geotechnical Engineering,
Vol. I l l , No. 9, September, 1985. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9410/85/0009-1139/$01.00.
Paper No. 20037.

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J. Geotech. Engrg. 1985.111:1139-1143.

 of sandstones, rapid mercury intrusion procedures were used to deter-
mine soil moisture characteristic curves of compacted silty clays.
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PREDICTION OF SOIL MOISTURE CHARACTERISTIC CURVE

The soil moisture characteristic curve is usually obtained by using water

as the pore fluid where surface forces draw water into the soil pores.
On the other hand, the use of mercury as the fluid will require the use
of external pressure to intrude the pores. This pressure can be mea-
sured, and as Washburn (8) noted, is related to the characteristics of the
pore being intruded by the equation:
4T„, cos 6,„
*m , v-v
a
in which T,„ = surface tension of mercury; P,„ = intrusion pressure ap-
plied to the mercury; 6,„ = contact angle between mercury and soil; and
d = diameter of pore being intruded.
For water, the same relation applies:
_ 4Ta cos Bw
[)
d
in which Pw, Tw, and Qw = the parameters for water.
Thus, from Eqs. 1 and 2

Pm=_L^Pm (3)
T„, cos 9,„
so that capillary pressures for water can be predicted from measure-
ments using the mercury. The soil water content that should correspond
to each intruded pore diameter can be calculated from

w = (« - n) ; (4)
(1 - n)G, '
in which w = water content; n = soil porosity; and n = cumulative po-
rosity, i.e., the ratio of the volume intruded to pore diameters as small
as d (lesser diameters are not yet intruded) to the total volume of the
sample.
The soil moisture characteristic curve thus predicted is equivalent to
the desorption curve because mercury has a contact angle greater than
90° and the injection of mercury into the pores is similar to ejection of
water from the pores. Therefore, the volume of pores not intruded by
mercury should be used to calculate the water content corresponding to
the pressure obtained from Eq. 3. The mercury intrusion procedure can
be accomplished in about an hour of time, a much quicker procedure
than the conventional.

EXPERIMENTAL WORK

The soils used in this study were taken from various places in Illinois.
A complete description of these soils can be found in Janssen and Demp-
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 10 5
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10', 1 _

UJ
D CONVENTIONAL
oE 10:
2 A MERCURY INTRUSION

SAMPLE CODE: flVR-B

OPT. WATER CONTENT: 19.6
o
MAX. DRY DENSITY: 1 0 6 . 7 PCF
LIQUID L I M I T : 33
u
CO PLASTICITY INDEX: 11
CLAY SIZE FRACTION: 23
lO'i
CLASSIFICATION: CL

10° -1 r
5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00
HRTER CONTENT (X)

FIG. 1.—Soil Moisture Characteristic Curves for Ava-B

10 s -

VP-.

XL
LU
10 3 -: a CONVENTIONAL

A MERCURY INTRUSION

TEL
O
10 2 -: SAMPLE CODE: CISNE-B
OPT. WATER CONTENT: 2 1 . 6
MAX. DRY DENSITY: 9 1 . 8 PCF
O LIQUID L I M I T : 53
to PLASTICITY INDEX: 29

\01-. CLAY SIZE FRACTION: t 2

CLASSIFICATION: CH

io° -i 1 1 1 *-
15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00
WATER CONTENT (%)

FIG. 2.—Soil Moisture Characteristic Curves for Cisne-B

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 106
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10 4 ^

10 3 -. ID CONVENTIONflL

4 MERCURY INTRUSION

s:
o
SAMPLE CODE: STOY-A
OPT. WATER CONTENT: 17.9
MAX. DRY DENSITY: 9 8 . t PCF
LIQUID L I M I T : 31
u PLASTICITY INDEX:
W
101, CLAY S I Z E FRACTION: 6
C L A S S I F I C A T I O N : ML

10° •
10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00
WRTER CONTENT (%)

FIG. 3.—Soil Moisture Characteristic Curves for Stoy-A

sey (5). A sampling of results is presented here, and the relevant prop-
erties of these soils are given in the appropriate figures. The soils were
compacted in a commercially available "Tempe" pressure cell [2.1 in.
(5.35 cm) in inside diameter and 1.18 in. (3.0 cm) in height] to obtain a
density similar to that of the ASTM D-698 procedures.
Mercury intrusion is performed in a porosimeter, and the results are
called the pore-size distribution (PSD) of the specimen. In the proce-
dure, a small cubic specimen of about 8 mm (0.31 in.) on a side was
first cut from the compacted soil and freeze-dried. The dried sample was
sealed into a penetrometer, a glass tube attached to a finely calibrated
stem. The penetrometer was evacuated and then filled with mercury.
The penetrometer was then placed in the porosimeter where the volume
of mercury intruded into the sample was recorded along with the in-
truding pressure. Assuming a constant surface tension and contact an-
gle, Eqs. 3 and 4 were used to determine the soil moisture characteristic
curve. Detailed description of the porosimeter and the procedure used
to obtain intrusion data can be seen elsewhere (6). Results of the testing
program are shown on Figs. 1-3; these figures also include the data
obtained by conventional procedures as reported by Janssen and Demp-
sey (5). It must be noted that the results apply only to the fabric pro-
duced by the unique procedures used to prepare the soil. As White (9)
indicated, different compaction variables will produce different fabric and
a different soil moisture characteristic curve.

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J. Geotech. Engrg. 1985.111:1139-1143.

 DISCUSSION

Figs. 1-3 indicate that mercury intrusion can determine the soil mois-
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ture characteristic curve for suctions in excess of 500 cm (16 ft) of water.
The more clayey the soil the higher is the level of suction for which the
determination is good. The agreement a m o n g the procedures in these
areas of low suction (controlled by capillarity) is believed to be excellent.
No conclusive explanations have been developed for the differences
seen on the figures. O n e possibility is that at the higher suctions, clay
mineralogy and specific surface play a large role in the suction p h e n o m -
enon, but only a minor role in mercury intrusion. In some soils, the
structure is n o n h o m o g e n e o u s , as is the distribution of clay minerals. In
other soils, some physico-chemical effects are involved with water mea-
surements. These all appear to be involved, b u t their relative importance
is u n k n o w n .
This paper has shown that mercury intrusion procedures and the pore-
size distribution of soil can b e used to determine the soil moisture char-
acteristic curve that is valid for suctions in excess of 500 cm (16 ft) of
water. Such determination appears to be adequate for most practical
purposes for pavement subgrade soils a n d determining their equilibrium
water contents.

APPENDIX.—REFERENCES

1. Croney, D., The Design and Performance of Road Pavements, HMSO, London,
1977.
2. Croney, D., Coleman, J. D., and Bridge, P. M., "The Measurement of the
Suction of Moisture Held in Porous Materials and Its Relationship to Moisture
Content," Report, Road Research Laboratory, Crowthorne, England, 1951.
3. Dempsey, B. J., and Elzeftawy, A., "A Mathematical Model for Predicting
Moisture Movement in Pavement Systems," Transportation Research Record, TRB,
No. 612, 1977.
4. Hillel, D., "Fundamentals of Soil Physics," Academic Press, New York, N.Y.,
1980, p. 414.
5. Janssen, D. J., and Dempsey, B. J., "Soil Water Properties of Subgrade Soils,"
Report No. UILU-ENG-80-2010, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111., April, 1980,
p. 210.
6. Prapaharan, S., "Prediction of Soil Equilibrium Water Content and Mineral-
ogy Effect on Permeability Using Pore Size Distribution," thesis presented to
Purdue University, at West Lafayette, Ind., in Aug., 1982, in partial fulfill-
ment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Civil Engi-
neering.
7. Purcell, W. R., "Capillary Pressures, Their Measurement Using Mercury and
the Calculation of Permeability Therefrom," Petroleum Transactions, AIME, Vol.
186, 1949, pp. 39-48.
8. Washburn, E. W., "Note on a Method of Determining the Distribution of Pore
Sizes in a Porous Material," Proceedings, National Academy of Sciences, Vol.
7, 1921, pp. 115-116.
9. White, D. M., "The Fabric of a Medium Plastic Clay Compacted in the Lab-
oratory and in the Field," thesis presented to Purdue University, at West La-
fayette, Ind., in Aug., 1980, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Science in Civil Engineering.

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