Measurement of geotextile-water characteristic curve using capillary rise principle

This paper presents the experimental procedure to obtain the water characteristic curve of a geosynthetic material. The capillary rise principle was used to obtain both drying and wetting water characteristic curves. The water characteristic curves obtained from the tests were then verified using numerical analysis of soil column tests. The soil column was constructed using 0.51 m thick fine sand overlying a drainage product made of three-dimensionil polypropylene monofilaments combined with two layers of polypropylene geotextile. The numerical analysis results of drawdown and rainfall tests show good agreement with the experimental data. This is an indication that the material properties, including the water characteristic curve of the geosynthetic material, were accurately measured.