Dynamic effects in soil water retention curves: an experimental exploration by full-scale soil column tests using spatial time-domain reflectometry and tensiometers

Abstract

The dynamic effects in soil water retention curves (SWRCs) have been the focus of much research. However, most studies implemented short column tests in a few centimeters, under which a semi-permeable porous media inevitably minimizes or magnifies the dynamic effects. In this study, full-scale sand column tests were conducted to eliminate this flaw by preparing a saturated zone under the unsaturated one. The soil suction and moisture profiles were monitored using high-precision tensiometers and spatial time-domain reflectometry, thereby providing a rational overshooting range of the dynamic SWRC. The results confirm that the dynamic primary drainage curve overshoots the static one. The dynamic effects were estimated quantitatively from the soil moisture re-equilibrium time (τ_S) and dynamic coefficient (τ_p), falling within reasonable ranges from previous studies. The τ_p increases log-linearly with decreasing moisture content and can be estimated well from the corresponding τ_S and the first derivative of SWRC. Also, the τ_p increases as the soil becomes finer and better graded, which agrees with more-prominent dynamic effects for lower-permeability reservoirs from petroleum studies but disagrees with more-significant dynamic effects for higher-permeability sand from soil-hydrology studies. The analysis shows that the dynamic effects are not dominated solely by the τ_p or permeability but also by the groundwater dynamics, which can be seen as a pressure boundary from the saturated zone. This finding explains the significant dynamic effects for both high- and ultra-low-permeability geomaterial. Therefore, the present full-scale soil column setup with a prepared saturated zone is recommended for academic investigations of dynamic SWRCs.