Murison, R.A., Jacobsz, S.W., Gaspar, T.A.V. orcid.org/0000-0002-3746-2714 et al. (2 more authors) (2023) Drying and wetting soil-water retention behaviour of a highly expansive clay under varying initial density. In: Bardanis, M., (ed.) E3S Web of Conferences. 8th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils (UNSAT 2023), 02-05 May 2023, Milos, Greece. EDP Sciences
Abstract
Expansive (or swelling) clays are the most prolific problem soil across Southern Africa and many parts of the world. Large volume changes due to seasonal wetting and drying cause millions of dollars’ worth of damage to engineering infrastructure yearly. Soil-water retention behaviour is dependent ondensity, and determining the correct retention curve may be key for reliable design of infrastructure. Soilwater retention curves and shrinkage curves were measured for recompacted samples of a highly expansive bentonite clay from South Africa. Four samples were prepared at varying initial dry densities between approximately 1200 and 1500 kg/m3 and subjected to total suction testing in a dewpoint hygrometer. The water content of each sample was varied through wetting and drying. The sample volume was measured after each suction reading, allowing relationships between suction and void ratio, degree of saturation and water content to be determined. The relationship between gravimetric water content and suction was not significantly influenced by initial density. Degree of saturation at a given suction varied significantly according to initial density. Volume reductions of 25% to 36% from saturated to residual conditions were recorded, and samples tended to a residual void ratio of 0.35 to 0.4. The swelling clay showed propensity for maintaining high suctions (over 300 MPa at residual conditions) and hysteretic response between primary drying and wetting.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Editors: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommonsAttribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Oct 2023 15:45 |
Last Modified: | 10 Oct 2023 15:45 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | EDP Sciences |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1051/e3sconf/202338209005 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:204117 |
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