Expansive clay is a

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

that is prone to large volume changes (swelling and shrinking) that are directly related to changes in

water content Water content or moisture content is the quantity of water contained in a material, such as soil (called soil moisture), rock, ceramics, crops, or wood. Water content is used in a wide range of scientific and technical areas, and is expressed as ...

. Soils with a high content of expansive minerals can form deep cracks in drier seasons or years; such soils are called

vertisol A vertisol, or vertosol, is a soil type in which there is a high content of expansive clay minerals, many of them known as montmorillonite, that form deep cracks in drier seasons or years. In a phenomenon known as argillipedoturbation, alternate ...

s. Soils with

smectite A smectite (from ancient Greek ''σμηκτός'' smektos 'lubricated'; ''σμηκτρίς'' smektris 'walker's earth', 'fuller's earth'; rubbing earth; earth that has the property of cleaning) is a mineral mixtures of various swelling sheet sil ...

clay minerals, including

montmorillonite Montmorillonite is a very soft phyllosilicate group of minerals that form when they precipitate from water solution as microscopic crystals, known as clay. It is named after Montmorillon in France. Montmorillonite, a member of the smectite gro ...

and

bentonite Bentonite () is an absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelling capacity than Ca-m ...

, have the most dramatic shrink-swell capacity. The mineral make-up of this type of soil is responsible for the moisture retaining capabilities. All clays consist of mineral sheets packaged into layers, and can be classified as either 1:1 or 2:1. These ratios refer to the proportion of tetrahedral sheets to octahedral sheets. Octahedral sheets are sandwiched between two tetrahedral sheets in 2:1 clays, while 1:1 clays have sheets in matched pairs. Expansive clays have an expanding crystal lattice in a 2:1 ratio; however, there are 2:1 non-expansive clays. Mitigation of the effects of expansive clay on structures built in areas with expansive clays is a major challenge in geotechnical engineering. Some areas mitigate foundation cracking by watering around the foundation with a soaker hose during dry conditions. This process can be automated by a timer, or using a soil moisture sensor controller. Even though irrigation is expensive, the cost is small compared to repairing a cracked foundation. Admixtures can be added to expansive clays to reduce the shrink-swell properties, as well.Biswas, Rajdip, and Nemani Kriscna
“Effect of fly ash on strength and swelling aspect of an expansive soil.“
Department of Civil Engineering National Institute of Technology. Visited on November 19th, 2015. One laboratory test to measure the expansion potential of soil is ASTM D 4829.

References

{{Reflist Types of soil Soil mechanics Soil physics Sediments

See also

References