Question

Can a soil swell during shearing? List two field examples where this can be observed?

Answer 1

Yes soil can swell during shearing.

examples are expansion soils and high porosity soils.

total of thirty shear tests were conducted on two types of expansive soils to investigate the effect of the

amount of swell on the shear strength of the soils. For each soil type, fifteen shear tests were carried out.

Three groups of tests were performed on samples with identical initial dry unit weight and loading conditions

but with three different initial water contents. In each group of tests, five shear tests were conducted after the

soil samples were allowed to reach a swell percent of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the ultimate vertical

swell. Both the swell tests and the shear tests were carried out in a hydraulic triaxial stress path cell.

Based on the results complied in this study, it was found that the amount of swell has a significant influence on

the shear strength of the tested soils. For samples sheared at a swell percent of 50% of the ultimate vertical

swell, the average value of the shear strength is about 25% for shale and about 50% for the bentonite of the

shear strength of the non-swelled samples. The average value of the shear strength of the samples reaching

the ultimate vertical swell is approximately 10% and 33% of the shear strength of the non-swelled samples

for the shale and the bentonite, respectively.

These results are limited to tests conducted under one confining pressure. Further work is still needed to

find the effect of the level of confinement on the shear strength of the swelled soils. The authors are currently

evaluating this effect, from which the values of the shear strength parameters can be found.

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