Elasticity moduli of expansive soils from dimensional analysis

Abstract

In this paper, a dimensionless model is proposed to estimate the modulus of elasticity of unsaturated expansive soils extending the dimensional analysis (DA). Experimental results of conventional and suction-controlled triaxial tests for three different compacted expansive soils from the literature are used in this study to apply the DA. The state of hydration of soil expressed in terms of the matrix suction and the degree of saturation, the level of compaction and the confinement described by the initial void ratio and the confining stress, respectively, are considered to form the dimensionless parameters towards reliably estimating the soil modulus of elasticity. Validation of the proposed dimensionless model is achieved by comparing its estimations of the soil modulus of elasticity with the experimental values of the modulus of elasticity obtained from the results of triaxial shear tests. In addition, the estimated values of the modulus of elasticity from another semi-empirical model presented by the present authors, for the three unsaturated expansive soils used in this study, are used to verify the proposed dimensionless model. The dimensionless model is rigorous and reliable for estimating the modulus of elasticity of unsaturated expansive soils.