Cohesion of wet grains at high liquid content

Adding liquid to a granular medium highly increases its cohesion, due to the creation of capillary bridges between grains. From the paste obtained by mixing a large amount of water to spherical glass beads ($\sim 100~\mathrm{\mu m}$), we cast a compact beam. We study its rupture under its own weight, then deduce the cohesive strength, which increases with water content. This behavior diverges from what is expected from individual capillary bridges, suggesting a role of the liquid repartition in the granular medium.