Evaluation of the influence of boundary confinement on the behaviour of unsaturated swelling clay soils

Abstract

Swelling soils are found in many regions throughout the world. Damage caused to infrastructure by these types of soils is measured annually in billions of dollars. These excessive damages are, in part, due to the lack of proper design, resulting from a need for better tools for practitioners to assess the impact of swelling soils in typical design applications. This paper presents an experimental testing program with interpretations to provide a framework for predicting the behaviour of swelling soils under general stress and volume state conditions for practical applications. The experimental testing adopted a new automated triaxial apparatus that controls boundary stress and strain while applying liquid infiltration conditions at the perimeter or center of triaxial specimens. Results demonstrate the influence of a range of boundary conditions on the behaviour of swelling soil during liquid infiltration. The range of boundary conditions examined in the experimental testing include constant mean stress (CMS), where the mean stress applied during the swelling stage is constant; constant volume (CV), where the volume is held constant during the liquid infiltration; as well as a flexible spring-type boundary condition (CS) that applies increases in stress as a specified function of the volume increase. These boundary conditions represent the broad spectrum of experiences in the field. The experimental results show the dominance of boundary conditions on the development of swell pressure and volume expansion to give evidence for a new swell equilibrium limit (SEL) relationship. The SEL shows promise in providing a framework for swelling soils to predict the final soil state under wetting conditions for the range of boundary conditions examined. Application of the SEL relationship in practice is presented as a concept for examining swelling induced pressures and volume expansion in applications of liquid infiltration of swelling soils.