Abstract
Introduction: Jordan is awarded huge areas in the north and western part of the country in which brown and green clay is dominant. This research focuses on the problems and behaviour of the green clay only. The main problem of the green clay is its high swelling pressure which is the main cause of excessive settlement and wall cracks in buildings, especially during the wet season. Methods: This study aims to investigate the engineering properties and behaviour of the green clay deposits in the Amman area, which will serve as a guide for both geotechnical and structural engineers when preparing the foundation design. Results: Based on the consolidation test, the investigated green clay showed high swelling pressure of 3.11 kg/cm2, liquid limit (LL) of 73%, plasticity index (PI) of 40%, the shrinkage limit (SL) of 12%, and liquidity index (LI) of 0.125. The moisture content at saturation is 35.14%, while the natural moisture content is 28%, dry density is 1407 kg/m3, cohesion (C) is 0.20 kg/cm2 and unconfined compressive strength is 1.05 kg/cm2. The XRD results of the clay size fraction have confirmed the presence of the expansive clay mineral smectite as the essential clay mineral together with kaolinite. Results provide a general understanding of the behaviour and properties of the green clay, and the regression analysis showed good correlations between the liquid limit and initial moisture content with the compression index and also between the initial void ratios with the swelling index. Conclusion: Changes in the volume are due to the unsaturation level of clay when provided with initial water content.
Highlights
Jordan is awarded huge areas in the north and western part of the country in which brown and green clay is dominant
The study’s findings indicate that green clay mechanical properties are very poor. Both of these findings indicate that the geotechnical characteristics of the high swelling green clay, which will be used in road construction, need to be improved [22]
The green clay contains a considerable amount of weathered clay minerals, such as smectite and illite
Summary
Jordan is awarded huge areas in the north and western part of the country in which brown and green clay is dominant. This research focuses on the problems and behaviour of the green clay only. The main problem of the green clay is its high swelling pressure which is the main cause of excessive settlement and wall cracks in buildings, especially during the wet season. Clay is recognized as an essential material for geotechnical engineering, given its increasing use in engineering practices [1, 2]. Various changes are to be made before its integration in the engineering projects, given its low strength, increased compressibility, and volumetric changes [2]. Characterization of the High Swelling Green Clay. Georgiannou [7] has investigated the effect of the presence of sand in clay and reported that the presence of fine sand has a remarkable effect on the stressstrain behaviour of the soil. Terzaghi and Peck [8] concluded that both permeability, (k), and volume compressibility (mv) decrease with the decrease of void ratio
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