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Swelling behavior of expansive soils

Article  in  International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering · January 2010

DOI: 10.3328/IJGE.2010.04.01.99-110

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 99

H. B. Nagaraj,1* and M. Mohammed Munnas2 and A. Sridharan3

Swelling behavior of expansive soils

Abstract:  Volumetric changes (usually swell) of expansive soils in presence of water are undesirable from stability reasons.
Swell and Swelling pressure of an expansive soil is primarily dependent on the initial dry unit weight or void ratio and also
on the moisture content. In this study, attempts have been made to study the effect of introducing varying number of vertical
drains into the compacted soil at varying initial dry densities on the swell and swelling pressure behavior. Both percent swell
and the swelling pressure are significantly influenced by the presence of vertical drains (facility of water availability). The
percent swell versus time relationship could be identified as a rectangular hyperbola, facilitating the prediction of ultimate
percent swell. This is advantageous to predict the swell from the data obtained from the initial stages of the swell test and the
experiment could be terminated without continuing till equilibrium conditions are reached. This concept was also extended
to predict swelling pressure determined by constant volume method. Irrespective of the presence or absence of drains, the
density effect on rate of secondary swelling and consolidation behavior of swollen sample was found to be almost the same for
all testing conditions used in this study.

Keywords:  Clays, compaction, expansive soils, swell, swelling pressure, vertical drains

1.  Introduction
Volumetric changes (usually swell) of expansive soils in
presence of water are undesirable from stability reasons.
The consequence of swell leads to an increase in volume
till suction pressure comes to equilibrium as determined by
the environment. The amount of swell to satisfy the suction
pressure depends on the magnitude of the vertical loading
and soil properties that include soil composition, natural
water content and density, and soil structure. The rate of
swell depends on the coefficient of permeability (hydraulic
conductivity), thickness, and soil properties. If a structure
is founded on such expansive soils, then its presence along
with the foundation prevents this volume increase (swell)
and as a consequence, leads to swelling pressure. This swell-
ing pressure has serious consequences in the form of cracks
and distress on the structures founded on expansive soils.
Lightweight structures are severely affected due to high
swelling pressure exerted by these soils. These aspects of
swelling and their consequences on building have been well
*Corresponding Author
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, BMS College of
1
Engineering, Bangalore 560 019, India. email: hbnraj@yahoo.com
Post Graduate student, Department of Civil Engineering, BMS College of
2
Engineering, Bangalore 560 019, India. email: munnas85@yahoo.co.in
Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of
3
Science, Bangalore 560 012, India. email: sridharanasuri@yahoo.com
International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering (2010) 4: (99-111)
DOI 10.3328/IJGE.2010.04.11.99-111
documented in the literature (e.g., Gibbs and Holtz, 1956;
Seed et al., 1962; Brackley, 1973; Chen, 1975; Katti et al.,
1975; Sridharan et al., 1986).
The first and essential step before any construction activ-
ity on expansive soils is to assess the degree of expansiveness
and the likely swelling pressure on the structure, so, as to
adopt preventive measure to overcome the same. Hence, the
study of swelling behavior and the associated parameters of
expansive soils assume importance. To assess the degree of
swell, many procedures, both simple and elaborate includ-
ing laboratory methods of determining swell pressure have
been developed by geotechnical researchers and engineers
(e.g., Gibbs and Holtz, 1956; Ladd, 1960; Seed et al., 1962;
Komornik and David, 1969; Ranganatham and Satyanarayan,
1969; Brackley, 1973; Chen, 1975; Sridharan et al., 1986).
A number of factors influencing swelling behavior have
been reported in the past (Ranganatham and Satyanarayan,
1969; Komorik and David, 1969; EI-Sohby and EI-Sayed,
1981, 1983; AL-Mhaidib, 1999; Azam and Abduljauwad,
2000). Among the identified factors that influence the swell-
ing behavior, type and amount of clay, initial placement
conditions, stress history and stress path, nature of pore
fluid, size and thickness of the sample are found to be more
important.
The swelling pressure of an expansive soil is primarily
dependent on the initial dry unit weight or void ratio and
also on the moisture content. The methods to determine
swelling pressure influences the ultimate value of the same.
J. Ross Publishing, Inc. © 2010
100  International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering

In this study, attempts have been made to study the effect Table1. Physical properties of soil used in the present study
of introducing vertical drains into the compacted soil on the Sl. No. Item Values/Description
swell and swelling pressure behavior. The effect of varying 1 Soil Black Cotton Soil from
initial dry density without and with varying number of verti- Belgaum
cal sand drains on time versus swell and also on time versus 2 Specific Gravity, G 2.7
swelling pressure determined by constant volume method is 3 Liquid Limit (%) 87.9
also presented. The results of experiments that compare the 4 Plastic Limit (%) 36.3
time required to attain the initial swell and primary swell 5 Plasticity Index (%) 51.6
and also the rate of secondary swelling obtained without 6 Shrinkage Limit (%) 11.1
and with introduction of vertical drains is presented in this Gravel (%) 1
paper. The study also includes the comparison of predicted Grain Size Sand (%) 3
ultimate swell and swelling pressure determined by constant 7
Distribution Silt (Size) (%) 27
volume method to the actual value obtained experimentally. Clay (Size) (%) 69
The consolidation behavior of swollen sample has also been 8 Unified Soil Classification CH
presented. Some useful conclusions have been drawn from
9 Activity 0.75
this study.
10 Free Swell Index 100
11 Free Swell Ratio 2
12 Principal Clay Mineral Montmorillonite
2.  Material and methods
One natural expansive soil, namely black cotton soil, which is
extensively involved in construction, with high value of liq- ness of the specimen in the swollen state. Also an attempt has
uid limit obtained from Belgaum, Karnataka state, India was also been made to study the effect of initial dry density on the
selected and used in this study. The soil was characterized swelling behavior and its associated parameters like, swell-
for their physical properties according to ASTM Standards time behavior and swelling pressure-time behavior without
and the results are summarized in Table 1. It may be seen and with five and nine vertical drains.
that it has a free swell ratio of 2 (Prakash, K. and Sridharan,
A., (2004)), and the primary clay mineral being montmoril- 3.1.  Preparation of Specimens
lonite. (Free swell ratio is defined as the sediment volume in It was decided to maintain the height of the specimen
water per gram of dry soil to the sediment volume in kero- approximately two thirds the height of the ring to facilitate
sene/carbon tetra chloride per gram of dry soil) swelling of the soil on imbibing water. Hence, a height of 14
While other properties viz., liquid limit, plastic limit and mm was used for all the tests in this study. Oven dried soil <
shrinkage limit and activity are presented in Table 1, they 425 µm was used to prepare the soil specimens for the swell
no way reflect the swelling nature of the soil (Sridharan, A. test at three desired densities using static compaction. All
(2005)). swell tests in this study were conducted at three selected dry
densities of 1.2 Mg/m3 (loose), 1.35 Mg/m3 (medium) and 1.5
(high) Mg/m3.
3.  Experimental program At each of the selected dry densities the requisite amount
The apparatus used in this study of swell and swelling pres- of dry soil < 425 µm was calculated and placed in the oedom-
sure is essentially the same as that of a laboratory one-dimen- eter rings and statically compacted by placing a metal spacer
sional consolidation test with fixed type ring (oedometer). specially fabricated for the purpose to achieve a height of
The rings were of 60 mm in diameter and 20 mm in height. 14 mm on compaction. A plain paper (template) having
Smoothly ground porous stones have been used in the diameter of 60 mm with the number and pattern of holes
oedometer to minimize seating displacements. Filter papers to be drilled for making vertical drains was placed on top
are used to avoid intrusion of soil into the porous stones. of the compacted soil specimen. Using a manually operated
Porous stones used before placing inside the oedometer drill fitted with a drill bit of diameter 2.8 mm vertical holes
are air dried and it fits close to the oedometer ring to avoid were made over the thickness of the statically compacted soil
extrusion or punching at high vertical pressures. specimen in the oedometer rings. Care was taken to drill
In this study an attempt has been made to introduce holes for vertical drains without disturbing the sides. The
varying number of vertical sand drains to ensure complete required numbers of vertical holes were drilled in the similar
saturation with uniform moisture contents across the thick- manner. At this stage, an air-dried, smoothly ground porous
 Swelling behavior of expansive soils  101

(a) stone was positioned into the base of a dry oedometer. A

standard filter paper was placed on top of the porous stone.
The ring with the specimen having requisite number of verti-
cal holes was placed on top of the bottom porous stone and
filter paper. The vertical holes were carefully filled with sand
of particle size less than 425 µm by using a paper cone with
a small opening at the bottom. Sufficient care was taken to
fill the sand into the vertical drains without spilling around
the top of the specimen. An air-dried filter paper was placed
on the top of the specimen with vertical sand drains, on top
of which a porous stone in dry condition and the loading
(b) pad were placed. The oedometer was secured to the base by
means of screws. Thus the test specimen in the oedometer
were mounted and positioned on the loading frame with a
vertical deflection dial gauge properly adjusted and fixed in
position to give proper dial reading. A seating load of 6.25
kPa was applied on the hanger. The initial dial gauge reading
was adjusted, so as to facilitate swell and later load the speci-
men to find the swelling pressure.
Figs. 1(a) and (b) are typical views of the compacted
specimen with five and nine vertical drains.

3.2.  Swell and Swelling pressure test

The swell and swelling pressure are generally determined in
(c) the laboratory with the one-dimensional oedometer. Swell is
determined by subjecting the laterally confined soil specimen
to a seating pressure of 6.25 kPa and by giving both the top
and bottom of the prepared specimen access to free water
(usually distilled) to cause swell. The time-swell observations
were recorded.
The swelling pressures were determined at various
densities by constant volume method/zero swell method.
Continuous loading was done in this method, allowing water
to be imbibed by the specimen and keeping the volume
change nearly zero.
(d) After the completion of determination of swelling pres-
sure, unloading was done in stages until the seating load
was reached. Under the seating load the specimen was left
to reach equilibrium for sufficient time. Then the specimen
was completely unloaded and removed for determining the
equilibrium water content over the depth of the specimen.

3.3.  Water content Determination

Figure 1.  Fig. 1(a) Solid 3-D view showing 5 vertical drains in specimen;
(b) Solid 3-D view showing 9 vertical drains in specimen; (c) See through
view of 9 vertical holes for vertical drains; (d) Final view of specimen
filled up with sand to make 9 vertical drains
In the routine practice of conducting swell test, it is not sure
that the specimen has reached uniform water content over
the thickness of the sample. To verify this it was planned
to determine the water content over the thickness of the
sample. Thus, after the completion of the swell pressure test,
the sample was removed from the oedometer ring, and sliced
horizontally into three portions namely top, middle and bot-
102  International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
tom. The sliced portion of the samples were put into separate
containers for water content determinations taking care to
place the sliced sample from each portion into two contain-
ers, to obtain the average water content of each portion.
Water content was determined by oven drying method. Care
was taken to remove the sand being used for vertical drains
before slicing into three portions.
4.  Results and Discussion
4.1.  Results of Swell Tests
In this study, three dry densities i.e., 1.2 Mg/m3; 1.35 Mg/m3;
and 1.5 Mg/m3 were selected to study the influence of initial
dry density on swell behavior of expansive soils with a spe-
cific interest of studying the influence of introducing vertical
drains in combination with varied initial dry densities.
Fig. 2 (a) shows the swell-time behavior of the selected
soil at three dry densities without vertical drains. It can be
seen from the figure that the amount of swell has increased
with an increase in the dry density. In order to have a check
on the reproducibility of the test results, swell tests were
repeated in the entire experimental program. One such
reproducibility test is shown in the figure at a dry density of
1.20 Mg/m3. It can be observed that there is good reproduc-
ibility on the swell-time behavior as well on the amount of
swell.
Since drilling holes to make vertical drains at lower
density of 1.2 Mg/m3 was not possible, further swell tests
at that density was not considered. Figs. 2 (b) and (c) show
the swell-time behavior having five and nine vertical drains
respectively at two dry densites namely 1.35 Mg/m3 and 1.5
Mg/m3. The amount of swell has shown to increase with
increase in density for the same number of vertical drains.
Also the tests have been shown to be reproducible.
Figs. 3 (a) and (b) show the influence of introducing
vertical sand drains on the swell-time behavior at particular
densities of 1.35 Mg/m3 and 1.5 Mg/m3 respectively. It can
be observed from Fig. 3 (a) that both the swell-time behavior
and the amount of swell have increased with the introduc-
tion of vertical drains as compared to that of without vertical
drains; with very marginal variation in the behavior between
five and nine vertical drains. Similar swell-time behavior and
increased ultimate swell can be observed at higher density of
1.5 Mg/m3 with the introduction of vertical drains as shown
in Fig. 3 (b). However, there is marked influence both on the
swell and swell-time behavior between five and nine vertical
drains at this higher dry density of 1.5 Mg/m3. Table 2 sum-
marizes the amount of swell in divisions without and with
vertical drains at varied dry densities.
4.2  Characterization of swell versus time plot
It could be seen from Figs. 2 and 3 that the shape of swell
versus log time plot is a mirror image of the conventional
compression versus log time plot. One can indentify three
clear phases in swelling viz., the initial swelling, the primary
swelling and the secondary swelling (Sridharan and Gurtug,
2004). Fig. 4 shows an idealized curve of swell versus log
time, which identifies three different phases of swelling.
The time taken for completion of initial (ti) and primary
swelling (tp) for different testing conditions adopted in this
study has been read out from the Figs. 2 and 3, and the same
is been tabulated in Table 3. From Table 3 we can see that
as the density increases, the time taken to attain initial and
primary swelling has increased. At any density, introduction
of vertical drains has reduced the time required to attain
initial and primary swelling by nearly 50 % as compared to
that without vertical drains. However, the values are almost
similar for five and nine vertical drains.
4.3.  Prediction of Ultimate Swell
Fig. 5(a) is a typical plot of swell versus time on a natural
scale at a dry density of 1.5 Mg/m3 without and with five
and nine vertical drains. The shape of the curves resembles
the shape of a rectangular hyperbola. Similar observation
was found at various placement conditions i.e., various dry
densities; without and with vertical drains. It was earlier sug-
gested by Kondner (1963) that non linear stress-strain curves
of soils could be represented by a rectangular hyperbolic
equation. Later using this concept of linking non-linear rela-
tionships to that of an hyperbolic equation, researchers have
made attempts to linearise the same by modifying the way of
the plotting the same results (Sridharan and Rao 1986). If one
can assume that the time versus swell relationship represents
a rectangular hyperbola, then the time versus time/swell
relationship is a straight line. Using this concept, attempts
have been made to predict the ultimate swelling using rect-
angular hyperbola concept (Dakshinamurthy, 1978; Rao
and Kondandaramaswamy, 1981; Sridharan et al., 1986,
Sridharan and Gurtug, 2004) from the reciprocal of the slope
of the straight line portion of (time/swell) versus time plot.
In the present study attempts have been made to see
whether prediction of the ultimate swelling for expansive soil
with vertical drains also holds good. Fig. 5(b) show the (time/
swell) versus time relationship for the plot presented in Fig
5(a), which is a straight line. The reciprocal of the slope of
the straight line portion have been calculated to predict the
ultimate swell and the same have been tabulated in Table 4
along with the actual experimental swell values. It can be seen
that the predicted values of swell matches well with experi-
mentally obtained values of swell, even for cases with vertical
 Swelling behavior of expansive soils  103

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 2.  Swell versus log time relationship for varying density with zero vertical drains; (b) Swell versus log time relationship for varying density
with five vertical drains; (c) Swell versus log time relationship for varying density with nine vertical drains
104  International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering

(a)

(b)

Figure 3.  (a) Swell versus log time relationship for same density (=1.35 Mg/m3) with varying vertical drains;
(b) Swell versus log time relationship for same density (=1.50 Mg/m3) with varying vertical drain.

Table 2. Experimental values of Swell

Number Swell Values (mm)
of Vertical Dry density
Drains 1.20 Mg/m3 1.35 Mg/m3 1.50 Mg/m3
2.015 (Trial - 1)
zero 2.65 4.36
1.88 (Trial - 2)
3.10 (Trial - 1)
five ... 4.82
3.14 (Trial - 2)
3.16 (Trial - 1)
nine ... 5.08
3.16 (Trial - 2)
(Note: All tests also include Top and Bottom Drains)
 Swelling behavior of expansive soils  105

Table 3. Time taken for initial and primary swelling

Time taken for initial and primary swelling (min)
Number
of Dry density
Vertical 1.20 Mg/m3 1.35 Mg/m3 1.50 Mg/m3
Drains
Initial Primary Initial Primary Initial Primary
1.5 (Trial - 1) 17 (Trial - 1)
zero 4 32 4 45
1.5 (Trial - 2) 18 (Trial - 2)

18 (Trial - 1) 16 (Trial - 1)
five ... ... 2.6 30
1.8 (Trial - 2) 1.7 (Trial - 2)
1.6 (Trial - 1) 16 (Trial - 1)
nine ... ... 2.6 30
1.8 (Trial - 2) 18 (Trial - 2)
(Note: All tests also include Top and Bottom Drains)

(a)

(b)

Figure 4.  Schematic diagram showing the separation of initial, primary Figure 5.  (a) Swell versus Time relationship for same density (=1.50
and secondary swelling. Mg/m3) with varying vertical drains; (b) Time/swell versus Time relation-
ship for same density (=1.50 Mg/m3) with varying vertical drains.
106  International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering

Table 4. Ultimate Percent Values – Predicted and Actual

Ultimate Percent Swell Values (%)
Number
of Dry density
Vertical 1.20 Mg/m3 1.35 Mg/m3 1.50 Mg/m3
Drains
Predicted Actual Predicted Actual Predicted Actual
14.44 (Trial - 1) 14.39 (Trial - 1)
zero 19.02 18.93 31.27 31.14
13.46 (Trial - 2) 13.43 (Trial - 2)

22.19 (Trial - 1) 22.14 (Trial - 1)

five ... ... 34.50 34.43
22.48 (Trial - 2) 22.43 (Trial - 2)
22.62 (Trial - 1) 22.57 (Trial - 1)
nine ... ... 36.39 36.29
22.62 (Trial - 2) 22.57 (Trial - 2)
(Note: All tests also include Top and Bottom Drains)

drains also. From Fig.6, which is a plot of the experimentally

obtained swell values versus the predicted ultimate swell, it
can be observed that there is very good correlation between
the two as indicated by a good regression coefficient (r = 1).
The predicted percent swell is 1.002 times the experimental
percent swell. The predicted value ought to be more because
the predicted swell is the asymptotic value of the swell versus
time plot. Therefore the asymptotic value is more than the
value obtained from the experimental results taken up to a
finite time. Theoretically, it takes infinite time to attain the
asymptotic value. Thus it is advantageous to predict the swell
from the data obtained from the initial stages of the swell test
and the experiment could be terminated without continuing
till equilibrium conditions are reached.
From Table 5, which summarizes the water content over
the thickness of the specimen for various placement condi- Figure 6.  Predicted swell versus Actual swell for the entire test results.
tions, it can be observed that for tests conducted without ver-
tical drains, the moisture content varied over the depth. The
variation of water content is observed to be about 2% and
3% at 1.35 Mg/m3 and 1.5 Mg/m3 respectively. Introduction
of vertical drains has reduced the variations in moisture con-
tent over the thickness significantly. This variation in water
content over the thickness was observed to be almost the
same with five and nine vertical drains. Herein it is evident
that introducing vertical drains has improved the access for
the sample to imbibe water needed for swelling and in turn
has resulted in increase in the value of swell. Conventional
method determines reduced value of swell possibly resulting
in unsafe values.

4.4.  Prediction of Swelling Pressure

Fig. 7 is a typical plot of void ratio versus swelling pressure by
constant volume method. The experimental values of swell-
ing pressure have been tabulated in Table 6. Similar to pre-
diction of swell, Sridharan et al. (1986) successfully extended Figure 7.  Log pressure versus void ratio (Constant Volume Method)
rectangular hyperbola concept to predict swelling pressure relationship for density (=1.50 Mg/m3) with five vertical drains.
 Swelling behavior of expansive soils  107

(a) Table 5. Values of Moisture Content (%) determined over

the depth of the specimen
Moisture Content (%) determined after consolidation
Number of swollen sample
of
Dry density
Vertical
Drains Specimen
Portion 1.20 Mg/m3 1.35 Mg/m3 1.50 Mg/m3
Top 47.10 45.36 36.44
zero Middle 46.92 43.54 33.47
Bottom 47.25 45.74 36.20
Top … 43.79 34.68
five Middle … 43.18 33.32
Bottom … 43.42 34.56
Top … 43.40 31.20
nine Middle … 43.18 31.08
(b) Bottom … 43.37 31.27
(Note: All tests also include Top and Bottom Drains)

Table 6. Actual and Predicted Values of Swelling Pressure

for Density = 1.50 Mg/m3 (Constant volume method)
Swelling Pressure (kPa) by constant volume
Number
method for Dry density = 1.50 Mg/m3
of Vertical
Predicted/
Drains
Actual Predicted Actual
zero 635.54 692.76 1.09
five 826.98 894.26 1.08
nine 970.85 1027.10 1.06
(Note: All tests also include Top and Bottom Drains)

Figure 8.  (a) Pressure versus Time (Method – 2) relationship for density
(=1.50 Mg/m3) with varying vertical drains; (b) Time/Pressure versus
Time (Method – 2) relationship for density (=1.50 Mg/m3) with varying
vertical drains].
in a constant volume method. In this study attempts have
been made to predict swelling pressure from the pressure-
time plots for the case of a soil sample compacted to a higher
initial dry density, without and with the introduction of both
five and nine vertical drains. Fig. 8(a) shows the pressure ver-
sus time relationship for samples compacted to an initial dry
density of 1.5 Mg/m3 without and with vertical drains. The
shape of curves for various placement conditions appears
to resemble the shape of a rectangular hyperbola. Fig. 8(b)
shows the transformed curves of (time/pressure) versus time.
The reciprocal of the slope of the straight line portions gives
the predicted swelling pressure, and the same has been tabu-
lated in Table 6 along with the experimentally obtained val-
ues of swelling pressure. From the good agreement between
the predicted and actual values of swelling pressure, it can
be advantageous to predict the swelling pressure with a care-
fully recorded time versus pressure data without continuing
the experiment until the equilibrium conditions are reached
From the data during the initial stages of the experiment,
once the straight line portion of the (time/pressure) versus
time is reached to obtain its slope, the swelling pressure could
be predicted from the reciprocal of the slope of the straight
line. It can be observed that the predicted values of swelling
pressures are slightly on the higher side which is safer. This is
acceptable because the predicted values of swelling pressure
ought to be more than the experimentally obtained value as
the predicted swelling pressure is the asymptotic value of the
swelling pressure versus time plot.
From Table 7, which summarizes the water content
over the depth of the specimen for various placement con-
ditions, it can be observed that for tests conducted without
vertical drains, the moisture content varied over the depth
by the constant volume method and observed to be 11%. The
variations are observed to be reduced significantly with the
introduction of the vertical drains, being 3% for five vertical
108  International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering

Table 7. Values of Moisture Content (%) determined over Table 8. Rate of secondary Swell
the depth of the specimen Number Swell Values (mm)
Moisture Content (%) determined for of Vertical Dry density
Number the sample used to determine swelling Drains
Specimen 1.20 Mg/m3 1.35 Mg/m3 1.50 Mg/m3
of Vertical pressure for dry density = 1.50 Mg/
Portion 0.020 (Trial - 1)
Drains m3 by constant volume method / zero zero 0.022 0.023
swell method 0.019 (Trial – 2)
Top 31.40 0.024 (Trial - 1)
five ... 0.023
zero Middle 20.60 0.022 (Trial - 2)
Bottom 31.56 0.025 (Trial - 1)
nine ... 0.026
Top 30.36 0.023 (Trial - 2)
five Middle 25.44 (Note: All tests also include Top and Bottom Drains)
Bottom 30.66
Top 29.30 trarily defined as the intersection of the tangent to the curve
nine Middle 27.29 at the point of inflection, with the tangent to the straight line
Bottom 29.44 portion representing a secondary time effect. Knowledge of
(Note: All tests also include Top and Bottom Drains) rate of secondary swelling will facilitate in long-term predic-
tion of swell, which may be a useful data for taking precau-
tionary measures for long term swell behavior when dealing
drains and about 2 % for nine vertical drains. Also, it can with expansive soils. The secondary swelling almost bears a
be seen from the Table 6 that the ratio of (predicted/actual) linear relationship in swell versus log of time plot. Similar
swelling pressure has reduced with the introduction of ver- to what is known as rate of secondary compression, one can
tical drains. It could be reasoned that vertical drains has call this as rate of secondary swelling (Sridharan and Gurtug,
improved the access for the sample to imbibe water needed 2004). Similar to the definition of rate of secondary compres-
for swelling as seen in the water content variation and in turn sion, one can define the rate of secondary swelling as:
has reflected in the value of swelling pressure. δHs
Since, there is relatively better access for the sample to
Rate of secondary swelling = H
Δ ∙ ∙
imbibe water; the rate of swelling was more with the intro- Δlog10t
duction of vertical drains. Thus, in this method of swell test,
in order to keep the volume change nearly zero, frequent and Table 8 shows the values of rate of secondary swelling
continuous loading was done to the specimen with vertical which can be used in predicting the long term swell. It can
drains compared the specimen without vertical drains where be observed that the rate of secondary swelling is found to
the rate of swell was less. By frequently loading the specimen, be almost the same i.e., in the range of 0.022 for all the test-
one gets more points on the curve during the initial portion ing conditions used in this study. Thus it can be seen that,
of the test. This can be advantageously used to predict the irrespective of the presence or absence of drains, the density
swelling pressure by quickly terminating the test once the effect on rate of secondary swelling is around 0.022 for all
straight line relationship is obtained (Fig. 8(b)). As observed dry densities used in this study. Introduction of vertical
from Fig. 8(b), more the number of vertical drains, more drains has not much influence on the rate of secondary swell.
quickly, the straight line is obtained and hence reduced time Further, these values are comparable with the values reported
required for the test to predict the swelling pressure. by Sridharan and Gurtug (2004).

4.5.  Rate of Secondary Swelling 4.6.  Consolidation behavior of swollen

The three distinct phases of swelling i.e., the initial swelling,
the primary swelling and the secondary swelling as observed
through Figs 2 and 3, has been idealized as presented in Fig. 4.
Initial swelling is that portion of the swell time curve which is
almost parallel to the abscissa. The end of initial swell and the
beginning of primary swell is arbitrarily defined as the point
of intersection of the tangent to the initial portion of the
curve with the straight line portion of the curve representing
the primary swell. The completion of primary swell is arbi-
sample
For the various testing conditions of dry density and verti-
cal drains, after the sample reached equilibrium, they were
loaded in stages keeping the load increment ratio (LIR) of
unity to study the consolidation behavior of swollen samples.
Next load increment was carried out when primary consoli-
dation was complete, indicated by the near constancy of the
dial gauge readings between two time intervals. Each load
 Swelling behavior of expansive soils  109

Figure 9.  Void ratio versus log pressure relationship for all testing conditions

increment lasted not more than 2 hours. Loading was con- Table 9. Compression index, Cc obtained from consolidation
tinued till the sample compressed, so as to obtain the straight of swollen sample
line portion of e – log σʹυ curve. Fig. 9 shows the plot of the Compression index, Cc obtained from consolidation
void ratio versus effective vertical consolidation pressure Number of swollen sample
of Vertical
for the swollen samples. From the figure, it can be seen that Dry density
Drains
the limb of the straight line portion of the e – log σʹυ curves 1.20 Mg/m 3
1.35 Mg/m3 1.50 Mg/m3
obtained from consolidating the swollen samples for vari- zero 0.44 0.43 0.44
ous testing conditions are almost parallel. The slope of the five … 0.45 0.44
straight line portion of e – log σʹυ curve (Cc) is obtained and nine … 0.43 0.43
tabulated in Table 9. These slopes which are similar to the (Note: All tests also include Top and Bottom Drains)
compression index of regular consolidation test appear to be
almost the same, being around 0.44. Thus it can be seen that,
irrespective of the presence or absence of drains, and also
with varied densities, it has no influence on the consolidation Table 10. Pre-consolidation Pressure, σ΄c obtained from con-
behavior of swollen samples. solidation of swollen sample
Sridharan et al., (1991) have proposed an improved Pre-consolidation Pressure, σ΄c (kPa)
Number
technique for estimation of pre-consolidation pressure (σʹc). of Dry density Ratio of σ΄c for
They suggested that pre-consolidation pressure could be Vertical ρd = 1.50 to
easily and accurately estimated from the plot of log (1 + e) Drains 1.20 Mg/m3 1.35 Mg/m3 1.50 Mg/m3 1.35 Mg/m3
against log pressure. Fig. 10 (a) shows a typical plot of log (1 zero 60 67 75 1.12
+ e) versus log pressure without VDs for test conducted at five … 50 55 1.10
varied densities. Fig. 10 (b) shows a typical plot of log (1 + e) nine … 45 47 1.04
versus log pressure at 1.50 Mg/m3 for zero VD, five VDs and (Note: All tests also include Top and Bottom Drains)
nine VDs respectively. The estimated σʹc have been summa-
rized in Table 10. It can be observed from the table that σ΄c
increases with the increase in the initial dry density for any
particular VDs. Further, at any particular dry density, σʹc has
decreased with the increase in the number of VDs. Also it can
be seen that the ratio of σʹc for ρd = 1.5 Mg/m3 to 1.35 Mg/m3
110  International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
(a)
(b)
Figure 10.  (a) 1+e versus log pressure relationship for varying density
with zero vertical drains; (b) 1 + e versus log pressure relationship for
same density (=1.50 Mg/m3) with varying vertical drain
has decreased with the increase in the number of VDs. This
may be because of better water accessibility with the increase
in VDs, the net attractive force has reduced and hence led
to the reduction in σʹc. The above observations indicate that
even for normal consolidation tests, vertical drains may
help to obtain better results. Conventional method without
any vertical drains determines higher σʹc. This needs further
investigations.
Conclusions
The swelling behavior of expansive soil has been studied
without and with vertical drains. Attempts have been made
to study the effect of introducing five and nine vertical drains
with varied initial dry densities. The following conclusions
have been drawn.
Introducing vertical drains into the compacted soil is
found to have a marked influence on the swell and swelling
pressure behavior. The amount of swell has increased with
the introduction of vertical drains as compared to that of
without vertical drains. Introduction of vertical drains has
reduced the variations in moisture content over the thick-
ness significantly. The moisture content variation with the
thickness of sample is minimal with 5 or 9 vertical drains.
The conventional test results show the water content at the
middle portion of the sample to be much lower than the
one at the top and bottom of the samples. This results in
much lower value of percent swell as well as swelling pres-
sure. Herein, it is evident that introducing vertical drains has
improved the access for the sample to imbibe water needed
for swelling and in turn has reflected in the value of swell.
Percent swell versus log time relationship has essentially
three phases viz., initial, primary, and secondary portion. At
any density, introduction of vertical drains has reduced the
time required to attain initial and primary swelling by nearly
50 % as compared to that without vertical drains.
Prediction of both ultimate swell and also swelling pres-
sure with vertical drains using the concept of rectangular
hyperbola has found to agree well with the experimental
values. The advantage of the prediction method is that it
could be done with only the data from the initial stages of
the swell test and the experiment could be terminated with-
out continuing till equilibrium conditions are reached. The
ratio of predicted / actual swelling pressure has reduced with
the introduction of vertical drains. It could be reasoned
that vertical drains has improved the access for the sample
to imbibe water needed for swelling as seen in the water
content variation and in turn has reflected in the value of
swelling pressure. More the number of vertical drains, more
quickly the linear relationship of time/pressure versus time
is obtained and hence reduced time of the test to predict the
swelling pressure.
Introduction of vertical drains has not much influ-
ence on the rate of secondary swell. Knowledge of rate of
secondary swelling will facilitate in long-term prediction of
swell, which may be a useful data for taking precautionary
measures for long term swell behavior when dealing with
expansive soils. Preconsolidation (σʹc) pressure increases with
the increase in the initial dry density for any particular VDs.
Further, at any particular dry density, pc has decreased with
the increase in the number of VDs. The precompression
pressure, σʹc determined without vertical drains can be more
because of lesser accessibility of water at the centre.
 Swelling behavior of expansive soils  111

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