Collapse/swell potential of residual laterite soil due to wetting and drying-wetting cycles

Abstract

Lack of consideration in the soil behaviors related to drying and wetting phenomenon namely volume change and collapsibility may cause damages to foundations, buildings, and other structures. This research reports an experimental work carried out to examine the collapsibility behavior of residual laterite soils under cyclic drying and wetting process, different initial water contents and dry densities. A modified oedometer was employed to perform air-drying and wetting cycle on the soil samples. The results showed that the soil collapsed upon wetting at a constant vertical stress. The collapse potential of the soil increased initially to a maximum value with increasing vertical stress and then decreased at higher levels of vertical stress. The drying-wetting cycles caused a reduction in void ratio and an increase in feasible cementation bounds of the residual laterite soil. As a result, the collapse potential diminished and the swell potential slightly increased. Yet, the soil with high dry density not only did not produce desirable results in reducing the collapsibility, but also slightly increase the soil swelling under the wetting-drying cycles.