Soil volume changes induced by temperature cycling

Abstract

The effects of temperature cycling on the volume change behavior of soil is examined during isotropic consolidation tests in the laboratory. Tests are performed on six different natural marine samples which vary from a sand to a clay of high plasticity. Samples are subjected to a heating and cooling cycle of 25 °C at constant confining stress in both normally consolidated and overconsolidated stress ranges. Results of this investigation indicate that the permanent reduction in void ratio due to a temperature cycle of 25 °C is independent of the effective confining stress for a normally consolidated soil. This permanent void ratio reduction is shown to be a unique value for a given normally consolidated soil and is directly related to soil plasticity. For overconsolidated soil, the effect of temperature cycling on volume change behavior is shown to be a function of the magnitude of effective stress decrement or overconsolidation ratio.