Effects of wetting and drying cycles on the swelling pressure and free swelling of expansive soil

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to investigate the influence of consecutive wetting and drying cycles on the free swelling and swelling pressure properties of a potentially expansive soil. The investigated sample consisting of high-plasticity inorganic clay with high consistency-limit values and extremely high swelling potential. The adopted methodology comprised free swelling and swelling pressure tests – based on the post-swelling loading method, under 0.5 kPa overload. Both tests were conducted in a cyclic manner by implementing eight wetting and drying cycles. Results have shown that the wetting and drying cycles acted as agents influencing the swelling pressure and free swelling properties of the expansive soil. It was found that the expansive soil sample, when moistened and then dried to its initial moisture content, time and again, showed higher values of swelling pressure and free swelling at the first moistening cycle. It was also observed that the expansive soil sample decreases its expansive behavior as the number of wetting and drying cycles increases.