Using the Reference Shrinkage Curve to Estimate the Corrected Crack Volume of a Soil Layer

ABSTRACT

To estimate the correct soil crack volume based on the shrinkage geometry factor, in addition to measurements with core samples, one also needs to know the shrinkage curve of the soil matrix without cracks. For such a curve one can use the soil reference shrinkage curve that is only stipulated by intraaggregate clay shrinkage without interaggregate cracking. The objective of this work is to illustrate such use of the reference shrinkage curve and, in addition, to argue the necessity to correct the usual estimates of the shrinkage geometry factor in order to correctly estimate the soil crack volume. The illustration is based on available data and reference shrinkage curves for eight soils.