Volume variation in a clayey soil depending on water content and compaction: an experimental approach

摘要

The present paper performs a laboratory analysis of the swelling/shrinking behaviour with water of a vertisol collected at Baricella, near Bologna (Italy). This required an experimental apparatus to be realised and tested to monitor the mutual affections between the soil-fluid dynamics parameters. Lower initial water contents and higher initial degrees of compaction proved to enhance the swelling evidence. A phenomenological analysis is also provided within the paper. Further tests also on soils with different properties are felt necessary to widen the field of application of this approach.