Quantification of hysteresis effects on a soil subjected to drying and wetting cycles

A quantitative description of soil hysteretic response during drying-wetting cycles is required to improve prediction of the soil water retention model. The objective of the study is to quantify the degree of hysteresis, which is helpful to evaluate the precision of soil water flow calculation. A new procedure to quantify the degree of hysteresis is presented. The Arya-Paris model allows assessment of hysteresis effects from initial drying curves, dynamic contact angles, degree of hysteresis value, and maximum difference value between drying and subsequent wetting curves. The experimental results show that the degree of hysteresis varies with the particle size, bulk density, void ratio, initial water content, and contact angle of the soil. The new findings can be very useful in modelling soil water flows