Abstract Summary
The sustainability and long term safety of energy geostructures can be assessed only if a thorough understanding of the coupled thermo hydromechanical phenomena occurring in the soil is reached. Several laboratory testing methods are available to determine unsaturated hydraulic properties. In this study, Wind's method was used and compared to a faster alternate method using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These experimental developments allow the non intrusive and continuous quantification of water movement in unsaturated soils during the application of coupled thermo hydraulic solicitations. The understanding of these fundamental parameters is a step for studying thermo hydromechanical behavior of compacted.
