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Scaly clays are stiff and highly fissured clays often used as construction materials. This paper presents the results of triaxial compression tests carried out on saturated and unsaturated samples of a compacted scaly clay. Complementary investigation on the microstructural features and their evolution with the amount of water stored into the material are also presented in order to shed light on the evolution of the micro- and macroporosity with suction. The water retention behaviour of the compacted scaly clay is also addressed. The results from the controlled suction triaxial tests are used to discuss the applicability of a single-shear strength criterion to compacted double-structured clays when the effective stress concept for unsaturated soils is used. The choice of the degree of saturation to be included in the effective stress definition for obtaining a satisfactory representation of the shear strength is addressed. It is shown that the best results are obtained when the macropore degree of saturation is considered along with its evolution during the applied stress path

Despite the increasing understanding of bentonite behaviour, there is still missing evidence on how different hydro-mechanical loadings, including sequences of hydration and compression, affect the fabric and the volume change behaviour of the material. It is generally assumed that the interplay between the behaviour of clay assemblages and the overall fabric of the material is the reason of having final states that are dependent on the stress path followed. Here the results of an experimental campaign aiming to study these factors are reported and discussed. Free swelling and swelling pressure tests were performed, both followed by compression to a relatively high stress. The experimental program involved various samples that were dismantled at intermediate states in order to perform microstructural observations by means of mercury intrusion porosimetry and electronic scanning microscopy. It was observed that while the void ratio at a given stress level depends on the stress path, subsequent compression led to a unique virgin compression line. The data obtained at the microscale gave further insight for an interpretation of the volume change behaviour observed at the macroscale, showing that at high stress the material tends to recover the same fabric regardless of the path to saturation.

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