Use of X-ray diffraction to identify and quantify soil swelling potential

Expansive soils impose challenges on the design, maintenance and long-term stability of many engineered infrastructure. These soils are composed of different clay minerals that are susceptible to changes in moisture content. Expansive clay soils wreak havoc due to their volume change property and, in many cases, exhibit extreme swelling and shrinking potentials. Understanding what type of minerals and clays react in the presence of water would allow for a more robust design and a better way to mitigate undesirable soil volume change. The relatively quick and widely used method of X-ray Diffraction (XRD) allows identifying the type of minerals present in the soil. As part of this study, three different clays from Colorado, San Antonio Texas, and Anthem Arizona were examined using XRD techniques. Oedometer-type testing was simultaneously preformed in the laboratory to benchmark the behavior of these soils. This analysis allowed performing comparative studies to determining if the XRD technique and interpretation methods currently available could serve as quantitative tools for estimating swell potential through mineral identification. The soils were analyzed using two different software protocols after being subjected to different treatment techniques. Important observations include the formation of Ettringite and Thaumasite, the effect of mixed-layer clays in the interpretation of the data, and the soils being subject to Gypsification. The swelling data obtained from the oedometer-type laboratory testing was compared with predictive swelling functions available from literature. A correlation analysis was attempted in order to find what index properties and mineralogy parameters were most significant to the swelling behavior of the soils. The analysis demonstrated that Gypsification is as important to the swelling potential of the soil as the presence of expansive clays; and it should be considered in the design and construction of structures in expansive soils. Also, the formation of Ettringite and Thaumasite observed during the treatment process validates the evidence of Delayed Ettringite Formation (DEF) reported in the literature. When comparing the measured results with a proposed method from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), it was found that the results were somewhat indicative of swell potential but did not explain all causes for expansivity. Finally, it was found that single index properties are not sufficient to estimate the free swell or the swell pressure of expansive soils. In order to have a significant correlation, two or more index properties should be combined when estimating the swell potential. When properties related to the soil mineralogy were correlated with swell potential parameters, the amount of Gypsum present in the soil seems to be as significant to the swell behavior of the soil as the amount of Smectite found.