Influence of Initial Water Content on the Collapsibility of Loess

Abstract

Collapse of loess is the combined effect of a number of factors acting together. The water content is the most important of these factors. Based on a series of consolidation tests on Yuncheng loess, the influence of initial water content on the collapsibility of loess was investigated. As the initial water content increases, the compressibility of the loess increases, while the collapsibility coefficient, the peak collapsibility coefficient and the peak collapse pressure all decrease. Overall, the collapsibility of the loess decreases. Collapse will likely not occur if the initial water content yields a collapsibility coefficient of less than 0.015. In addition, scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated that the void area ratio of the loess specimens decreases as the initial water content increases, while the density of the loess increases and the collapsibility of the loess decreases.