The Hydrocon SWCC consolidation apparatus is used to determine the magnitude and rate of settlement and pressure of unsaturated soil specimens. Because of the low permeability of some materials, performing a drying and wetting stage can take several weeks. The Hydrocon SWCC cell is a flexible soil testing apparatus capable of applying uniaxial pressures of up to 3500 kPa to a 100 mm diameter specimen. Its base is fitted with a High Air Entry Stone (HAES) which enables a soil/water characteristic suction curve to be obtained. This type of stone allows water to pass through but not air so that the soil matrix potential can be controlled at various values: 1,5 and 15 bar. During a test it is possible to load the soil specimen in such a way that the overburden pressure in the field is recreated, whilst measuring the chamber and pore water pressure using a pressure transducer and the vertical settlement using a linear strain transducer.

As the Hydrocon SWCC is a confined consolidation system, it is possible to measure both pore and back pressure during testing and to make accurate permeability measurements.