Experimental Study of Remolded Unsaturated Soil Subjected to Wetting Load under Constant Compression

Abstract

The mechanical behavior of a compacted unsaturated clay soil was experimentally investigated. Volume changes were investigated using a conventional odometer cell under a series of constant confining pressures, following a wetting path. The special loading paths were utilized to reflect field conditions associated with the compacted earth structure in earth filled embankment. The soils used in the experiments were taken from an earth dam. The compacted specimens were consolidated under k0-oedometer conditions. The volume change and the water content variation were measured during the tests. The influence of the confining pressure and the initial water saturation were taking into considerations. The experimental results show that the volumetric deformation properties of the remolded unsaturated soil could be expansive and/or contractive, depending on the confining pressure and the initial water saturation. It is also observed that for the mediate confining stress, there volumetric deformation of specimen applied to wetting loads has a transition from dilation to contraction.