Influence of Clod-Size and Structure on Wetting-Induced Volume Change of Compacted Soil
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 11
Abstract
Volume changes due to wetting may occur in naturally deposited soils as well as earthen construction (e.g., compacted fills or embankments). Depending on the stress level, some soils exhibit increase in volume upon wetting (swell) while others may exhibit decrease in volume upon wetting (collapse). The work described in this paper focused on wetting-induced volume changes in compacted soils. Motivation for this work stemmed from observations of earthen structures that exhibit problematic behavior under wetting conditions, even though soils were compacted to engineering specifications (i.e., at or above minimum density and within moisture content ranges). Not only is this problematic behavior a concern but also the laboratory tests used to predict settlement of constructed facilities may not properly model the actual behavior of soil compacted under field conditions. For example, settlements experienced by compacted fills may be different from settlement predictions based on one-dimensional oedometer tests. These differences are partly related to the variations in the soil structure in tested specimens that arise because soil clods compacted in the laboratory are smaller than soil clods compacted in the field. The term “soil structure” includes the combined effects of soil fabric and interparticle forces. “Fabric” generally refers to the geometric arrangement of particles, whereas interparticle forces include physical and physicochemical interactions between particles. The soil structure in this case is associated with specimen preparation methods and is influenced by several factors including soil composition (including pore water chemistry), compaction method, clod sizes, initial moisture condition of clods, dry density or void ratio, and compaction moisture content. A laboratory research study was conducted to investigate the influence of variations in clod-size and structure on one-dimensional volume change, with emphasis on wetting-induced volume change, for nine different fine-grained soils. The results of the study suggest that the influence of structure in one-dimensional oedometer tests depends on soil type and nature of the clods in the compacted soil. Clayey soils appear to be influenced more by differences in structure, whereas silts or clayey sands of low plasticity do not appear to suffer as much from structure effects in one-dimensional oedometer tests. This is attributed to more extensive clod development in clayey soils. Furthermore, the moisture condition of clods appears to have an important influence on volume change behavior.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers are grateful for the financial support of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
References
ASTM. (2005). “Soil and rock (I).” D 420–D 5611, West Conshohocken, Pa.
Barden, L., Madedor, A. O., and Sides, G. F. (1969). “Volume changes characteristics of unsaturated clay.” J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., 95(1), 33–51.
Barden, L., and Sides, G. R. (1970). “Engineering behavior and structure of compacted clay.” J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., 96(SM4), 1171–1200.
Basma, A. A., and Tuncer, E. R. (1992). “Evaluation and control of collapsible soils.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 118(10), 1491–1504.
Benson, C. H., and Daniel, D. E. (1990). “Influence of clods on hydraulic conductivity of compacted clay.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 116(8), 1231–1248.
Booth, A. R. (1975). “The factors influencing collapse settlement in compacted soils.” Proc., 6th Regional Conf. for Africa on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Vol. 2, South African Institute of Civil Engineers, South Africa, 57–63.
Cerato, A. B., and Lutenegger, A. J. (2002). “Determination of surface area of fine-grained soils by the ethylene glycol monoethyl ether (EGME) method.” Geotech. Test. J., 25(3), 315–321.
Cleomene, E. (2005). “Scale and fabric effect on one-dimensional compression behavior of compacted soils.” MS thesis, Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.
DiBernardo, A., and Lovell, C. W. (1980). “Dependence of compacted-clay compressibility of compaction variables.” Transp. Res. Rec., 754, 41–46.
Dreimanis, A. (1962). “Quantitative gasometric determination of calcite and dolomite by using Chittick apparatus.” J. Sediment. Petrol., 32(3), 520–529.
Jennings, J. E., and Knight, K. (1957). “The prediction of total heave from the double oedometer test.” Transactions of a symposium on expansive clays, South African Institute of Civil Engineering, South Africa, 13–19.
Lawton, E. C., Fragaszy, R. J., and Hardcastle, J. H. (1989). “Collapse of compacted clayey sand.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 115(9), 1252–1267.
Lawton, E. C., Fragaszy, R. J., and Hetherington, M. D. (1992). “Review of wetting-induced collapse in compacted soil.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 118(9), 1376–1394.
Lim, Y. Y., and Miller, G. A. (2004). “Wetting-induced compression of compacted Oklahoma soils.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 130(10), 1014–1023.
Miller, G. A., and Cleomene, E. (2007). “Influence of fabric and scale effect on wetting-induced compression behavior of compacted soils.” Proc., GeoDenver: New Peaks in Geotechnics, ASCE, Reston, Va., 1–10.
Noorany, I., and Houston, S. (1995). “Effect of oversize particles on swell, and compression of compacted unsaturated soils.” Geotech. Spec. Publ., 56, 107–121.
Rhoades, J. D. (1982). “Cation exchange capacity.” Methods of soil analysis. Part 2, A. L. Page, ed., 2nd Ed., American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wis.
Rizkallah, V., and Keese, K. (1989). “Geotechnical properties of collapsible soils.” Proc., 12th Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Vol. VI, 101–104.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 9, 2008
Accepted: May 11, 2009
Published online: Oct 15, 2009
Published in print: Nov 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.