Abstract:Lime treatment is an economical and useful soil improvement method. However, lime-treated soils in site always present a serious degradation in strength, since they are exposed to the long-term changes in climate and environment. Water retention curve is essential to study the pore water movement inside soils and their hydro-mechanical behavior. This paper investigates the influences of temperature and curing time on the water retention curve of lime-treated soil. In this test, untreated samples and lime-treated samples(28, 90 d)were statically compacted. The water retention curves of untreated and lime-treated samples were measured at different temperatures (0~40℃). The results indicate that the water retention capacity of loess is effected by lime treatment, curing time and temperature changes. The effect decreased with the moisture content dropping. The temperature effect gradually weakens with the temperature increases. Besides, the VG model was applied to model the water retention curve of loess. And the effects of temperature and curing time on the parameters of a, n, θs, θr are analyzed. The research results can provide useful information for engineering construction.