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Shrinkage limit test results and interpretation for clay soils

View ORCID ProfilePeter Hobbs, View ORCID ProfileLee Jones, Matthew Kirkham, David Gunn and David Entwisle
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2018-100
Peter Hobbs
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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Lee Jones
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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Matthew Kirkham
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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David Gunn
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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David Entwisle
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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Abstract

The shrinkage limit is one of the Atterberg limits and is a fundamental geotechnical parameter used to assess the settlement of engineering soils containing clays, yet is rarely tested for as part of ground investigation. This paper describes shrinkage limit test results on a variety of soils from Britain and overseas obtained using an improved laboratory testing procedure developed at the British Geological Survey (BGS). The co-relationships with the other Atterberg limits and with density are explored. In particular, the coincidence of the shrinkage limit with the water content at the peak bulk density achieved in the test is examined. The shrinkage behaviour for undisturbed and remoulded states and a 3-way relationship between water content, density and suction are demonstrated. Some tropical residual and highly smectitic soils show a very wide range of shrinkage behaviour, albeit for a small dataset, when compared with the larger dataset of temperate soils tested. Consideration is given to limitations of the new and existing test methods.

Scientific editing by Alister Smith; Joel Smethurst

  • © 2018 UKRI. The British Geological Survey. Published by The Geological Society of London. All rights reserved
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Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology: 52 (1)
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Shrinkage limit test results and interpretation for clay soils

Peter Hobbs, Lee Jones, Matthew Kirkham, David Gunn and David Entwisle
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 4 October 2018, https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2018-100
Peter Hobbs
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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  • ORCID record for Peter Hobbs
  • For correspondence: prnh@bgs.ac.uk
Lee Jones
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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  • ORCID record for Lee Jones
Matthew Kirkham
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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David Gunn
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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David Entwisle
Engineering Geology & Infrastructure, British Geological Survey, Nottingham, United kingdom
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Shrinkage limit test results and interpretation for clay soils

Peter Hobbs, Lee Jones, Matthew Kirkham, David Gunn and David Entwisle
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2018-100
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