Development and application of a temperature-controlled triaxial test system for unsaturated soils

With the development of modern geotechnical engineering practices such as construction of high-level radioactive waste repositories, exploitation and utilization of geothermal resources, and design of the heat-supply pipelines in cities, the researches on the influence of temperature on the basic mechanical properties of natural unsaturated soils have become one of the most important issues in soil mechanics. A new temperature-controlled triaxial test system for unsaturated soils is proposed, which can be used to study the temperature effect on seepage and strength-deformation characteristics of unsaturated soils. With the combination of the existing static triaxial test system and a new temperature-controlled pressure chamber, the proposed test system can realize better control of temperature. Using the new temperature-controlled triaxial test systerm, the soil-water characteristic curves under different temperatures are tested, and the experimental data are consistent with the existing theoretical results.