Effect of Saturation Degree on Mechanical Behaviors of Shallow Unsaturated Expansive Soils

Jinpeng Li, Hong Xu (), Lichuan Chen (), Boyi Li, Dan Liang, Shicong Ren, Shilei Zhang and Jun Wang
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Jinpeng Li: Technology Innovation Center of Geohazards Automatic Monitoring, Ministry of Natural Resources, Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Automatic Monitoring for Geological Hazards, Chongqing 401120, China
Hong Xu: Technology Innovation Center of Geohazards Automatic Monitoring, Ministry of Natural Resources, Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Automatic Monitoring for Geological Hazards, Chongqing 401120, China
Lichuan Chen: Technology Innovation Center of Geohazards Automatic Monitoring, Ministry of Natural Resources, Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Automatic Monitoring for Geological Hazards, Chongqing 401120, China
Boyi Li: Technology Innovation Center of Geohazards Automatic Monitoring, Ministry of Natural Resources, Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Automatic Monitoring for Geological Hazards, Chongqing 401120, China
Dan Liang: Technology Innovation Center of Geohazards Automatic Monitoring, Ministry of Natural Resources, Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Automatic Monitoring for Geological Hazards, Chongqing 401120, China
Shicong Ren: Technology Innovation Center of Geohazards Automatic Monitoring, Ministry of Natural Resources, Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Automatic Monitoring for Geological Hazards, Chongqing 401120, China
Shilei Zhang: Shenzhen Metro Construction Group Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 518026, China
Jun Wang: School of Urban Railway Transportation, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-17

Abstract: In the southwest of China, there are widely distributed expansive soils. However, to save costs and manage the speed of construction, these shallow expansive soils are often filled with subgrade materials. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly understand the mechanical behaviors of unmodified shallow expansive soils. Current research on the mechanical behaviors of shallow expansive soils is mainly focused on shear and compressive strengths but rarely on the tensile strength since general tests are costly, time consuming, and difficult to conduct. Therefore, uniaxial tensile, unconfined compression and direct shear tests were carried out to study the mechanical behavior of shallow unsaturated expansive soils under different saturation degrees, and the tests analyzed the change mechanism of its mechanical behavior. The following were found: (1) with an increase in saturation degree, the uniaxial tensile strength, unconfined compressive strength, shear strength, cohesive force, and internal friction angle first increased and then decreased; (2) when the saturation degree increased from 18.7% to the saturation degree corresponding to the peak, the uniaxial tensile strength, unconfined compressive strength, cohesive force, and internal friction angle increased by about 11 times, 3.24 times, 2.34 times, and 0.52 times, respectively; (3) when the saturation degree increased from the saturation degree corresponding to the peak to 80.3%, they decreases by about 42%, 51.4%, 36%, and 50%, respectively; (4) with the increase in dry density, the saturation degree corresponding to the peak of uniaxial tensile strength gradually increased, while the saturation degree corresponding to the peak of unconfined compressive and shear strength did not significantly change.

Keywords: expansive soils; saturation degree; tensile strength; compressive strength; shear strength (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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