Effect of clay layer thickness on desiccation and cracking

Abstract

Clay materials are usually part of geotechnical projects such as slopes, embankment dams and landfills. Crack problem in clayey soil is one of the most destructive phenomenon as can affect the stability and efficiency of geotechnical projects. Thermal, mechanical and volume changes which lead to stress in soil can be cause of cracking. A series of desiccation tests were carried out to investigate effect of thickness of clay layer in crack pattern. Circular container selected with 150 mm diameter. Soil thickness was changed during the tests (i.e. 10mm, 15mm, and 30mm). Kaolin clay was used as soil part. The container material selected as metal. The results from the tests proved that thickness of soil is a significant parameter in desiccation tests and with increasing in thickness crack pattern is moved to orthogonal manner. During the tests also effect of fibre inclusion observed and showed that fibre inclusion had significant effect on crack density of the sample.