DIELECTRIC CONSTANT AND ELECTRCONDUCTANCE OF SOME DRY FROST-PRONE SOILS

Dissipation factors of eight dry, frost-prone, New Jersey soils measured at a frequency of 1 kc/s at various soil porosities for a temperature range from −40°C to +40°C, and relative dielectric constants of the same soils were determined. Also, by electric measurements, the electroconductance of the same soils was determined. The relative dielectric constants thus found vary from D = 1.970 to D = 4.650. The corresponding conductances of these dry soils vary from 0.199 n℧ to 2.677 n℧. This work strengthens thermal soil mechanics as an engineering discipline, and serves as a basis for similiar studies of dry and moist, frozen and unfrozen soils for calibration and comparison, thus adding to the store of man's knowledge. The dielectric constant of dry and moist, frozen and unfrozen soils, is also receiving increasing attention from those interested in permafrost, and in man's various engineering activities in the Arctic, Antarctic, and on the moon.