Hydrodynamics of Non‐Equilibrium Soil Water Retention

Abstract Water retention in soil exhibits diverse phenomena, including suction‐saturation hysteresis, non‐unique air entrapment at zero suction and negative suction under partial saturations. The constancy of suction after a long rest can be broken by relatively minor mechanical or hydraulic agitati...

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Main Authors: Itai Einav, Mario Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-01-01
Series:Water Resources Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033409
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author Itai Einav
Mario Liu
author_facet Itai Einav
Mario Liu
author_sort Itai Einav
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Water retention in soil exhibits diverse phenomena, including suction‐saturation hysteresis, non‐unique air entrapment at zero suction and negative suction under partial saturations. The constancy of suction after a long rest can be broken by relatively minor mechanical or hydraulic agitations such as low‐amplitude wetting cycles—this fact is here being related to metastable states that differ from the true equilibrium. The complete suction‐saturation relationships are thus being recovered using non‐equilibrium Landau's hydrodynamic theory and Onsager's reciprocity principles. Equilibrium suction does not pertain to hysteresis, yet can be approached through small amplitude agitations over long duration. Conditions for rate independence are being described, while rate‐dependency are also accommodated and illustrated. Finally, it is shown that the new non‐equilibrium theory retains the rigorously derived equilibrium result of the effective stress of partially saturated soils.
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institution Kabale University
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series Water Resources Research
spelling doaj-art-9196feb2a58846b68ebd2e8c159c3e2a2025-08-20T03:30:02ZengWileyWater Resources Research0043-13971944-79732023-01-01591n/an/a10.1029/2022WR033409Hydrodynamics of Non‐Equilibrium Soil Water RetentionItai Einav0Mario Liu1School of Civil Engineering Sydney Centre in Geomechanics and Mining Materials The University of Sydney Sydney NSW AustraliaTheoretische Physik Universität Tübingen Tübingen GermanyAbstract Water retention in soil exhibits diverse phenomena, including suction‐saturation hysteresis, non‐unique air entrapment at zero suction and negative suction under partial saturations. The constancy of suction after a long rest can be broken by relatively minor mechanical or hydraulic agitations such as low‐amplitude wetting cycles—this fact is here being related to metastable states that differ from the true equilibrium. The complete suction‐saturation relationships are thus being recovered using non‐equilibrium Landau's hydrodynamic theory and Onsager's reciprocity principles. Equilibrium suction does not pertain to hysteresis, yet can be approached through small amplitude agitations over long duration. Conditions for rate independence are being described, while rate‐dependency are also accommodated and illustrated. Finally, it is shown that the new non‐equilibrium theory retains the rigorously derived equilibrium result of the effective stress of partially saturated soils.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033409non‐equilibrium thermodynamicssoil water retentionhysteresiseffective stresssuctioncapillary pressure
spellingShingle Itai Einav
Mario Liu
Hydrodynamics of Non‐Equilibrium Soil Water Retention
Water Resources Research
non‐equilibrium thermodynamics
soil water retention
hysteresis
effective stress
suction
capillary pressure
title Hydrodynamics of Non‐Equilibrium Soil Water Retention
title_full Hydrodynamics of Non‐Equilibrium Soil Water Retention
title_fullStr Hydrodynamics of Non‐Equilibrium Soil Water Retention
title_full_unstemmed Hydrodynamics of Non‐Equilibrium Soil Water Retention
title_short Hydrodynamics of Non‐Equilibrium Soil Water Retention
title_sort hydrodynamics of non equilibrium soil water retention
topic non‐equilibrium thermodynamics
soil water retention
hysteresis
effective stress
suction
capillary pressure
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033409
work_keys_str_mv AT itaieinav hydrodynamicsofnonequilibriumsoilwaterretention
AT marioliu hydrodynamicsofnonequilibriumsoilwaterretention