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Collapsible Soils
Definitions
Collapsible soils are also known as metastable soils.
They are unsaturated soils that undergo a large
volume change upon saturation.
The sudden and usually large volume change could
cause considerable structural damage. The volume
change may or may not occur due to an additional
load.
Behavior under load:
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ab: is determined from the consolidation test
on a specimen at its in-situ moisture content.
e1: is the equilibrium voids ratio before
saturation.
e2: is the equilibrium voids ratio after
saturation.
cd: is the curve that ensues from additional
loading after saturation.
Types of collapsible soils
1) Aeolian soils
They are the most common examples of this type of
collapsible soil.
Typical aeolian soils are wind-deposited sands and
or silts, such as loess, aeolic beaches, and
volcanic dust deposits.
They are characterized by showing in-situ high void
ratios and low unit weights.
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They are typically granular or only slightly
cohesive.
The Dust Bowl winds of the late 1920s in the
USA stripped large areas of
Oklahoma and Texas of their top soils and
carried them to
Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Other areas around the world that have large
aeolian deposits are:
South Africa,
Rhodesia,
Europe and
China.
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2) Residual soils
Residual soils, which are a product of the in-situ
weathering of local parent rocks may also have
a potential for collapse.
The weathering process produces soils with a
large range of particle size distribution.
The soluble and colloidal materials are leached
out by weathering, resulting in large void ratios
and thus unstable structures.
Identification of the critical parameters.
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The degree of volume change is expressed
as the collapse potential Cp,
where a sample is flooded during a 24-hour
period under a pressure p
w
= 200 kN/m2
(30 psi).
Values of Cp greater than 5% are
indications of trouble for a foundation.
This test provides void ratios before and
after flooding and the collapse potential Cp
can be calculated with equation:
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where,
eo = the natural (in-situ) voids ratio of the soil, and
= the vertical strain
Foundation Design
The choice of a foundation system depends on whether the
foundation will be exposed to wetting or not.
Soils susceptible to wetting:
If the expected depth of wetting is about 150 to 200 cm below
the ground surface, then,
The soil may be moistened and recompacted with heavy
rollers, or
Compacted with heavy tamping such as deep dynamic
compaction, wherein a heavy weight repeatedly dropped
upon the ground.
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Alternatively, if conditions are favorable, the
foundation trenches could be flooded with
solutions of :
sodium silicate and
calcium chloride
to stabilize the soil chemically.
The soil will behave like a soft sandstone and
resist collapse upon saturation.
This method is successful only if the solutions
can penetrate to the desired depth.
Another method used for dry collapsible soils and for
wet collapsible soils that are likely to
compress under the added weight of the structure to
be built is to:
1) Inject carbon dioxide into the treated stratum to
remove any water present.
2) Inject sodium silicate grout.
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When a soil stratum is susceptible to wetting to a
depth of about 10.0 m, there are several techniques
that may be used to cause the collapse of the soil
before foundations are constructed:
a) Vibroflotation: used successfully in free-draining
soils (granular).
b) Ponding, flooding an area by building low dikes
around the site.
However, some additional settlement of the soil
may occur after the foundations are built.
If precollapsing the soil is not practical, the
foundations must be extended below the zone of
possible wetting, which may require drilled shafts or
other type of deep piles.
However, their design must take into consideration
the effect of negative skin friction resulting from the
collapse of the soil structure around them, and the
associated settlement of the critical soil zone when
wetted.
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Sensitive Soils
Sensitivity (S
t
)
A measure of the change in strength of clays upon
disturbance:
For ordinary clays S
t
= 1 to 4,
sensitive clays 4 to 8,
quick clays 16 - 100.
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The sensitivity ratio S
t
of most clays range from 1 to 8.
However, highly flocculent marine clay deposits may show
sensitivity ratios ranging from about 10 to 80!
There are some clays that turn into viscous fluids upon
remolding.
These are found mostly in the previously glaciated areas of
North America and Scandinavia.
These clays are referred to a quick clays.
Quick clays
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Table 8: Undrained strength and sensiti vity description for clays.
> 64 even 100 Extra quick
32 64 Very quick
16 32 Medium quick
8 16 Slightly quick
4 8 Very sensitive
2 4 Medium sensitive
1 - 2 Slightly sensitive
< 1 Non-sensitive
Sensitivity Description
Clay Sensitivity
<20 Very soft
20 40 Soft
40 50 Soft to firm
50 - 75 Firm
75 100 Firm to stiff
100 150 Stiff
> 150 Very stiff or hard
Undrained strength, c
u
(kPa)
Consistency
Undrained strength classification for clays
BS 8004:1986