ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: This paper reports an experimental programme aimed at studying the coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour of an unsaturated low-density silty clay.A poorly statically compacted condition was selected to induce an appreciable change of the void ratio by compression and to study its consequences on the water retention properties of the soil. As preliminary work, the characterization of the microstructure of two samples compacted at two different dry densities was performed bymercury intrusion porosimetry and ESEM image analysis to understand the structural changes induced by compression paths. The first dry density corresponds to the initial state of the soil (e= 0.82), whereas the second one (e= 0.55) corresponds to the dry density that reaches the sample after the loading path. In addition, the retention curves of the clay compacted at the two aforementioned dry densities were determined.
