Prédiction of the soil-water characteristic curve from the grain-size distribution curve

This paper presents a method of estimating the soil-water characteristic curve from the grain-size distribution curve and volume-mass properties. The grain-size distribution is divided into small groups of uniformly-sized particles. A packing porosity and soil-water characteristic curve is assumed for each group of particles. The incremental soil-water characteristic curves are then summed to produce a final soil-water characteristic curve. Prediction of the soil-water characteristic curve from grain-size distribution allows for a inexpensive description of the behavior of unsaturated soils. The soil-water characteristic curve forms the basis for computer modelling of processes in unsaturated soils