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

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.

Automated summary

This study investigated the mechanical behavior of shallow unsaturated expansive soils under different saturation degrees through uniaxial tensile, unconfined compression, and direct shear tests. The results showed that the saturation degree has a significant influence on the soil's mechanical behavior, with the strength parameters initially increasing and then decreasing as the saturation degree increases.