Swell Magnitude of Unsaturated Clay as Affected by Different Wetting Conditions
The wetting of compacted clays and their subsequent swelling often result in damage to structures and infrastructures. Estimations of the swell that is expected to develop during wetting are usually based on standard laboratory tests. The standard procedure requires inundating the test specimens; th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Standards |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6703/5/1/1 |
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| Summary: | The wetting of compacted clays and their subsequent swelling often result in damage to structures and infrastructures. Estimations of the swell that is expected to develop during wetting are usually based on standard laboratory tests. The standard procedure requires inundating the test specimens; this procedure represents an extreme wetting condition and provides an upper limit to the swell. However, wetting may result from less extreme conditions, for example by the absorption of water due to suction forces, which may result in a smaller swell. This paper describes a laboratory investigation of the swell difference in high-plasticity clay that may result from different wetting conditions. Swell tests were carried out on specimens prepared at different initial conditions and wetted under different wetting conditions of inundation or absorption. The results indicate that as the initial void ratio decreases and the degree of saturation increases, it is more likely that different wetting conditions will result in different swell magnitudes, where inundation may create a larger swell than absorption. The soil at a low initial void ratio and high degree of saturation seems to be characterized by mono-modal pore size distributions in the micropore range. This unique pore size distribution may be the explanation of the different swell magnitudes. |
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| ISSN: | 2305-6703 |