Determination of alternative method for clay soil moisture content

Abstract

Moisture content is the ratio expressed as a percentage of the mass of “pore” or free” water in a given mass of soil to the mass of solid particles. However, conventional method for determining moisture content is time consuming. This research is intended to propose a quicker method in accurately determining moisture content of clay soil. Assessment of the suitability for those methods are based on accuracy and testing duration of drying soils using Oven Drying Method, Microwave Method, and Moisture Balance Method. Oven Drying Method was considered to produce the true moisture content. Therefore, this is used as a basis of comparison for the results gained by using other methods in drying soils . The results have shown that microwave method is a promising alternative method based on accuracy and time duration.