Experimental investigation of desiccation of clayey soils

Environmentally controlled desiccation tests are performed on clayey soils: bentonite and kaolin, including unconstrained and constrained drying tests. The evolution of radial strain, moisture content with time and the relation between moisture content and strain are identified. Geometric and statistic parameters of linear desiccation cracks and 2D crack patterns are obtained by image processing. It was found that the desiccation speed of constrained desiccation was much higher than that of unconstrained desiccation due to the produced crack face. Also, from linear constrained desiccation test, it was obvious that the bentonite has higher potential to be cracked due to desiccation.