The Influence of Some Chemical Properties of Soaking Liquids on the Collapse of Tropical Soils

Soil structure depends on many variables in the system particles and surrounding soil water, thus it is reasonable to suppose that the magnitude of soil collapse strain can vary, under certain use conditions, like following sewer and different chemical effluent leakage. This paper deals with the influence of liquids of various compositions and chemical properties on the collapse behavior of two typical tropical soils, considering the magnitude of collapse strain, its development over time, and the variation in soil porosity as a result of the volumetric reduction after soil collapse. The paper shows that the pH of liquids is related to soil collapse to a limited extent, as is the case for organic liquids and sodium hydroxide solutions used in this study. However, pH is not an efficient unifying property in indicating the magnitude of soil collapse. Collapse strain also increases with the dielectric constant of the organic liquids used in the tests. Soil collapse strain reduces the amount and diameter of soil macropores, modifying soil pore distribution.