Swelling behaviour of compacted fine-grained soils

Abstract

The swelling behaviour of three compacted Cyprus soils varying significantly in their physical properties have been studied with variation in compaction energies from standard Proctor compaction to modified Proctor. For comparison, studies have also been made with kaolinite and a highly plastic montmorillonitic clay. Both percent swell and swelling pressure are significantly influenced by the compaction energy. There is an unique relationship between percent swell and the swelling pressure irrespective of the soil type and the level of compaction energy. The percent swell-time relationship could be identified as a rectangular hyperbola facilitating the prediction of ultimate percent swell with a few initial results. The swell-log time relationship has three distinct phases of initial, primary, and secondary swelling. The secondary swell could be distinctly identified, and a knowledge of the rate of secondary swelling enables the prediction of long-term swelling. The study focuses on the attention of the significant influence of the compaction energy on percent swell/swelling pressure.