Effect of Water Content and Dry Density on Electrical Resistivity of Granite Residual Soils of Taishan Section, Guangdong, China

Abstract

Electrical resistivity method is rapid, non-destructive and a very attractive tool for describing the geotechnical properties of soil. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the influence of water content and dry density on the electrical resistivity for different densities compacted granite residual soils collected from Taishan section, Guangdong, China based on laboratory experiments. The results show that the resistivity value decreases with increasing dry density and water content, and tends to constant at higher values. The variations of electrical resistivity due to dry density are more pronounced at low water content but negligible for higher water contents. The water content is found to have more significant effect on electrical resistivity than dry density. Based on regression analysis, a mathematical model is also proposed to show the combined influence of water content and dry density i.e., volumetric water content on the electrical resistivity of the studied soils. The proposed model is well agreement with the experimental data and capable of capturing some intrinsic hydraulic behavior of fine grained soils and might be used for practical purposes.