Experimental study on the coefficient of lateral earth pressure in unsaturated soils

摘要

Accurate measurement of lateral earth pressure coefficient, k, is a key step in any geotechnical investigation. Since conventional approaches for obtaining this value leads to high risk of uncertainty in the results, this paper introduces a new experimental approach for measuring the value of k, particularly in unsaturated soils. Details of the new instrument designed for this purpose is provided in the manuscript, which is capable of obtaining k value of unsaturated soils in a range of matrix suction or degree of saturation. Finally, some test results are presented that examine the accuracy of the novel apparatus in order to measure the coefficient of lateral earth pressure in unsaturated soils.