MEASUREMENT OF FLOW PROPERTIES OF EXPANSIVE CLAYS
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The paper deals with the determination of the flow properties of expansive and unsaturated clays under different conditions of stress. By choosing the moisture content as the dependent variable, the well known nonlinear diffusin equation is derived. Numerical solutions using a finite element program are presented, assuming a linear relationship between the moisture diffusivity and the concentration (the relative moisture content). These solutions are interpreted and a procedure is proposed to derive the flow properties of the clay from the sorption curves. Results of tests are presented and used to illustrate the procedure. It is found that the lower the stress applied, the smaller the initial moisture diffusivity and the stronger the dependence of the moisture diffusivity upon the concentration. Copyright 1978 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd