Improvements and reliability of MIT tensiometers and studies on soil moisture characteristic curves
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2002.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | en_US |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2005
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/26891 |
| _version_ | 1826199287996874752 |
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| author | Toker, Nabi Kartal, 1979- |
| author2 | John T. Germaine and Patricia J. Culligan. |
| author_facet | John T. Germaine and Patricia J. Culligan. Toker, Nabi Kartal, 1979- |
| author_sort | Toker, Nabi Kartal, 1979- |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2002. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:17:23Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/26891 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:17:23Z |
| publishDate | 2005 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/268912019-04-11T05:33:38Z Improvements and reliability of MIT tensiometers and studies on soil moisture characteristic curves Studies on soil moisture characteristic curves Toker, Nabi Kartal, 1979- John T. Germaine and Patricia J. Culligan. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Civil and Environmental Engineering. Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2002. Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-143). Soil Moisture Characteristic (SMC) curves are widely used in unsaturated soil mechanics and agricultural engineering. A SMC curve is the relation between the soil suction (tension in the pore water) and the water content (ratio of amount of water to solid particles, preferably by mass). Until now, the methods used to obtain the SMC have involved obtaining point measurements along the SMC curve, which can take weeks to gather, and then fitting a curve through these points. Recently at MIT, a much faster technique for obtaining a complete, continuous SMC curve has been developed. A digital laboratory balance and an MIT tensiometer, both monitored by a data acquisition computer, obtain continuous water content and soil suction data, respectively. As any other invention, advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of this device and technique need to be assessed and improved. Along the course of this research, some of these assessments or improvements were made, while attempting to extend a correlation developed recently at MIT, as well as to understand the effect of the grain size distribution on the SMC. While measurement capacity of the tensiometer was not improved, the latest version is significantly more serviceable than its predecessors. Although intended, it has not been possible to compare the tensiometer readings to theoretically induced suction values by relative humidity of the environment. Only comparative study was by capillary rise tests. Numerous parameters that affect the experiments, such as compaction and heterogeneity of the specimen, data acquisition cables, mass balance sensitivity and temperature of the environment, were discovered and their effects were minimized. The newly repeatable procedure was used to observe grain size distribution effects on the SMC curve, and to correct the past understanding of grain size-SMC relationship, which was based on biased test results for neglecting some of the affecting parameters listed above. by Nabi Kartal Toker. S.M. 2005-09-06T20:41:09Z 2005-09-06T20:41:09Z 2002 2002 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/26891 50448392 en_US M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 143 p. 9923173 bytes 9941972 bytes application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Civil and Environmental Engineering. Toker, Nabi Kartal, 1979- Improvements and reliability of MIT tensiometers and studies on soil moisture characteristic curves |
| title | Improvements and reliability of MIT tensiometers and studies on soil moisture characteristic curves |
| title_full | Improvements and reliability of MIT tensiometers and studies on soil moisture characteristic curves |
| title_fullStr | Improvements and reliability of MIT tensiometers and studies on soil moisture characteristic curves |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improvements and reliability of MIT tensiometers and studies on soil moisture characteristic curves |
| title_short | Improvements and reliability of MIT tensiometers and studies on soil moisture characteristic curves |
| title_sort | improvements and reliability of mit tensiometers and studies on soil moisture characteristic curves |
| topic | Civil and Environmental Engineering. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/26891 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tokernabikartal1979 improvementsandreliabilityofmittensiometersandstudiesonsoilmoisturecharacteristiccurves AT tokernabikartal1979 studiesonsoilmoisturecharacteristiccurves |