A Diffused Air Volume Indicator for Unsaturated Soils
The diffusion of air through saturated high air entry discs presents a serious problem in the testing of unsaturated soils. When determining either the strength (drained) or volume change characteristics of unsaturated soils, a technique must be available to measure the amount of diffused air in order for the appropriate corrections to be applied to the volume–weight relationships.The described diffused air volume indicator is a simple but effective means of measuring the quantity of diffused air. This technical note explains its construction and procedure of operation. Also outlined is the computational procedure for the correction factor that must be applied to the water volume change measurements. Numerous tests on the indicator show a reliability in the order of ±0.2 cc over a period of 2.5 weeks.