Macro-microscopic one-dimensional compression of wet granular soils by experimental investigation

The presence of liquid menisci between soil particles in wet granular soils plays a key role in the macroscopic behavior. This liquid bridge between particles may also allow the existence of metastable microstructures that lead to mechanical instabilities when the soil in subjected to external loadings. In this work, the authors present an investigation into macroscopic and microscopic behaviors of wet granular soils in very loose state under one-dimensional (1D) compression by using oedometer test combined with the X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) observations. The specimen is prepared in the presence of a small amount of a water meniscus by using the controlled pluviation method. The influences of various mechanical parameters are first studied on the compression curve. The microstructure along those compression curves are then analyzed by using X-ray CT to observe the arrangement of microstructure under growing of applied force.