Foundations on Expansive Clays

Dr. Ajjarapu Srirama Rao

Formerly Principal & Prof. of Civil Engineering,
JNTU College of Engineering, Kakinada-5!!", Email# $ra%%arap&'ya(oo.com
ABSTRACT : Expansive soils are considered problematic in view of the alternate swelling and shrinkage they
undergo due to seasonal moisture variations. Structures built in these soils are subjected to distress as a result.
Therefore, special foundations have to be adopted in these soils. Sand cushion, CS cushion and under!reamed
piles are some of the foundations that are being used in this country to overcome the problems posed by these
soils. "owever, each one of the above practices suffers from one drawback or the other. The author proposes two
alternative foundation techni#ues which, to a great extent, can overcome the limitations of the foundation
practices in vogue.
INTRD!CTIN
Expansive soils, popularly known as black cotton soils in $ndia, undergo alternate swelling and shrinkage due to
seasonal moisture fluctuations. The volume changes of the soil are restricted only to a certain depth which is
called the active %one. Thus, even if an expansive soil extends to a depth of &'m below the ground surface, soil
in the entire thickness is not susceptible to volume changes. $t will be limited only to a some depth, which, on an
average, is (.' to (.)m in $ndia.
*nlike in ordinary soils, in which settlement or shear strength is the governing criterion, heave and swelling
pressure govern the design of foundations in black cotton soils. Therefore, foundations in black cotton soils
should be designed with greater care and circumspection. +ifferent from the structures founded in all other types
of soils, it is the light structures that are prone to damage, when founded in expansive clays. ,ut, before taking
up the design, identification of expansive clays is very essential. -ll clays that are black in colour are not
expansive in nature. Clays that are truly expansive in nature can be identified from some routine classification
tests, particularly the .ree Swell $ndex /.S$0 test.
E"ISTIN# F!NDATIN $RACTICES
Some of the existing foundation practices in black cotton soils, which are in vogue in $ndia, are discussed below1
Sand Cus%ion
2rovision of a sand cushion beneath the foundation footing is normally believed to arrest heave of the black
cotton soil lying under it. The actual design philosophy of a sand cushion is that sand undergoes bulking during
the summer, which offsets shrinkage of the expansive soil while the settlement undergone by it during the
monsoon compensates for the swelling of the expansive clay. ,ut, arriving at the thickness of the sand cushion is
not easy. $t cannot normally be fixed arbitrarily at (''mm or 3)'mm as is normally done. -n unscientifically
and inade#uately designed sand cushion may be a case of cure being worse than the disease, as it accelerates the
process of swelling of the expansive clay lying underneath, by serving as an effective drain.
!nder&Reamed $ile Foundation
The most popular foundation techni#ue adopted in this country, the under!reamed pile is a bored cast!in!situ pile
with an enlarged bottom and connected at the top to a plinth beam. - multi!underreamed pile provides greater
frictional resistance along an enlarged perimeter, if the bulbs along the stem are spaced sufficiently close. .ield
engineers are particularly cautioned against using the tables in $.S. code /$.S.145&&, part $$$, &56'0 for arriving at
the safe loads, for, the properties of soils, which are very vital, are not taken into account while giving the safe
load in both compression and uplift. ,esides, the under!reamed pile suffers from the following disadvantages1
/i0 $t is not suitable in all soil profiles. $t should be anchored only in the inactive %one, that too only in soils
possessing cohesion. $t cannot be installed in sands because sands cannot take negative slope.
/ii0 Construction re#uires special skill. *ntrained labour cannot install the pile properly. -n under!reamed
pile that is discontinuous fails to serve the purpose.
/iii0 2rovision of under!reamed piles as foundations for light structures, whose cost is normally less, might
not be economically viable.
CNS Cus%ion
Cohesive on!swelling Soil /CS0 techni#ue, developed by 7atti /&5850, is being increasingly used to arrest
swelling and shrinkage and conse#uential cracking of canal linings and slopes of summer storage tanks. .ew
cases have been reported about its use in building foundations. +evelopment of cohesive bonds, on saturation, in
a non!swelling cohesive soil cushion, provided between the footing and the expansive clay bed, has been
adduced as the reason for arresting heave. ,esides the difficulties encountered in meeting the specifications of a
CS material /7atti, &5850, research carried out at $.$.Sc. /Subba 9ao, 4'''0 has pointed out the chinks in the
techni#ue which has been claimed to be a sound techni#ue. -lternate wetting and drying cycles have been found
to render the CS ineffective /.ig.&0.
Fi'.( Swell!shrink behaviour of CS!cushioned Expansive Clay /after Subba 9ao, 4'''0
T)E $R$SED TEC)NI*!ES
The foregoing discussion on the foundation practices, being adopted in $ndia, currently, focuses on their short!
comings and limitations. The upcoming sections show how some of the above disadvantages could be overcome
by adopting simpler and more fool!proof techni#ues evolved by this author, in association with his research
students.
#ranular $ile&An+%ors
- highly promising foundation techni#ue, which not only inhibits heave but also possesses high load carrying
capacity in both compression and uplift /Srirama 9ao et al., 4''8: 2hanikumar et al., 4''60, granular pile!anchor
/.ig.40 is simple to construct. The foundation consists of a granular pile, consisting of small stones and coarse
sand in a proportion of 4'16', compacted to a relative density of 8';. - granular pile per $e cannot reduce
heave of expansive clay beds because the particulate granular medium is not a good tension!resistant material.
,y providing an anchor rod, it becomes tension!resistant and counteracts the upward tensile force caused on the
footing by the expansive clay. Therefore, the foundation is anchored at the bottom of the granular pile to a mild
steel anchor plate, embedded in cement concrete by a mild steel rod passing centrally through the granular pile.
9esistance to uplift, caused by the heave of the black cotton soil surrounding the pile, is developed as a result of
/a0 weight of the granular pile acting downwards
/b0 frictional resistance mobili%ed along the pile!soil interface.
Fi'., <ranular 2ile!-nchor
.ig.( illustrates the forces acting on a granular pile!anchor. The uplift force, 2u, caused by the swelling pressure
ps is given by the expression
( )

= gp f
$ &
) ) p P
4 4
3

=== /&0
The resisting force, 29, generated by virtue of the frictional resistance, is given by
( ) [ ]
gp $ $ vo gp gp *
+ p K K c , ) P + + + = > tan > >
= /40
?here 7 is the coefficient of earth pressure and
7s is the coefficient of lateral swell pressure
?gp is the self weight of the granular pile
> c is the effective cohesion of the pole!soil interface
>
is the effective angle of friction at the pile!soil interface
>
vo
is the effective vertical overburden pressure at the mid!depth of the granular pile.
Fi'. -. <ranular pile!anchor concept, and forces acting on a <2-
$t can be seen from E#./40 that the lateral component of swell pressure also contributes to the frictional
resistance, an otherwise negative factor being made use in a positive way.
.or a suitable factor of safety, given by the ratio, 29 @ 2u, the length and the diameter of the granular pile!anchor
can be designed.
.ig.3 shows the pull!out behaviour with the applied load in k plotted as ordinance and the corresponding
upward movement of the granular pile anchor /<2-0 of diameter of 4''mm0 in mm as abscissa. The lengths of
the <2- are varied as '.), '.8) and &.'m. -ll the piles were tested to failure. .rom the figure, it can be seen that
the failure pull!out load increased with an increase length of the <2-. .ig.) shows the pull!out behaviour of
<2-s of &.'m length, with diameters varied as &'', &)' and 4''mm. $t can be seen from the figure that the
failure pull!out load increased with an increase in the diameter of <2-. Thus, the uplift resistance of a <2-
depends upon the surface area of <2-, besides the interface shearing resistance.
Fi'. . 2ullout behaviour of granular pile anchors of diameter 4'' mm
Fi'./ 2ullout behaviour of granular pile anchors of &''' mm length
Sta0ili1ed As% Cus%ions
$n a previous section, it was mentioned that 7attiAs CS cushion, though effective in arresting the heave
initially, failed to serve its purpose during the subse#uent wetting and drying cycles. ?hile the development of
cohesive bonds in the cohesive non!swelling soil layer was proved beyond doubt, it was difficult to explain why,
during the swell!shrink cycles, it failed to serve the purpose of arresting the heave. This gave rise to the thinking
of an alternative to the CS, while still retaining its basic principle. .ly ash is a material which has high
po%%olanic properties due to the presence of silica and alumina in large #uantities in it. .urther, disposal of fly
ash has become a big problem these days and should be utili%ed as a construction material, if possible. ?hen
blended with lime or cement, in the presence of water, fly ash is capable of producing cementitious bonds
serving the same purpose as CS. $t was, therefore, felt that a stabili%ed fly ash cushion would be efficacious in
minimi%ing the heave of the expansive clay and, accordingly, research was carried out by this author /9ama 9ao
et al., 4''6: 9ao et al., 4''60 to verify this assumption.
Matetials Used
+ial gauge
"eave stake
"ollow 2BC pipe
Test tank
.ly ash layer
4'' mm thick soil bed
Sand drain all around
and at the bottom
The fly ash was collected from the electro!static precipitation hoppers of BT2S, -ndhra 2radesh. The silica and
alumina contents were C(; D 4); respectively. Erdinary 2ortland Cement of 3(!grade and commercial
hydrated lime were used as the stabili%ing agents.
Experimental Studies
.ig.C shows the experimental set!up. .ig.8 shows the variation of the swelling potential /the ratio of the increase
in the thickness of the expansive clay bed to its initial thickness, expressed as a percentage0 with lime content,
for different thickness ratios of the .ly -sh Cushion /.-C0 with a dry density of &.( Fg@m
(
. The swelling
potential of the clay bed without any cushion was 4C.);. ?ith an increase in the lime content, the swelling
potential has been found to decrease. $t can also be seen from the figure that the swelling potential decreases
significantly with an increase in the thickness of the fly ash cushion. 2o%%olanic action in the presence of water
between the silica and alumina present in the fly ash and the lime produces cementitious bonds in the fly ash
cushion, which results in the reduction of the heave significantly.
Fi'.2 Experimental Set!up for swelling studies
Fi'. 3. 2lot of swelling potential against lime!stabili%ed fly ash cushion thickness1 dry density &.( Fg@m
(
Geaching studies in ) cycles showed that the amount of lime leached decreased with each cycle. ?hile the lime
leached after the first cycle was '.4CC;, the lime leached after the fifth cycle was only '.&4(;. The cumulative
lime content leached was '.534; at the end of the fifth cycle, which is #uite insignificant /9ama 9ao D
Sreerama 9ao, 4''80.
The investigation has shown that a cushion of fly ash, stabili%ed with &'; lime, is effective in arresting heave
when placed between the foundation footing and the underlying expansive clay bed. ?ith an increase in the
thickness of the cushion, the amount of heave of the underlying clay bed decreases. Similar studies were carried
out using cement also as the stabili%ing agent in fly ash. .ig.6 shows the plot of swelling potential as a function
of the cement content for different ratio of the thickness of the cushion to that of the soil.
t
c
@ t
s
Fi'. 4. 2lot between swelling potential and cement content for fly ash cushion of dry density &.' Fg@cu.m
+epending on the amount of heave needed to be arrested, the thickness of the cushion can be designed. .or an
expansive clay bed of (m, it may not be necessary to remove the entire (m thickness to obviate heave of the
foundation structure. $t may be sufficient to remove &m or &.)m of the expansive clay bed and replace it with
stabili%ed fly ash cushion. This may yield the desired results in arresting the heave /9ama 9ao et al., 4''60.
Studies were also carried out to compare the efficacy of the above cushions vis!H!vis the sand cushion and CS
cushion. The results are presented in Table &.
Ta0le (. 9eduction of heave with different cushions
Type of Cushion
"eave
/mm0
;
reduction
in heave
"eave
ratio
o Cushion (5.8( !! !!
Sand Cushion &8.(C )C.( '.33
CS Cushion &C.() )6.6 '.3&
Gime!stabili%ed .-C &4.38 C6.C '.(&
Cement!stabili%ed .-C 5.5( 8) '.43
"eave ratioI"eave of cushioned soil bed@heave of un!cushioned soil bed
Swell!shrink cycle studies /Srirama 9ao D 9ama 9ao, 4'&'0 have also shown that stabili%ed fly ash cushion
does not suffer from the disadvantage of a CS cushion. ?ith every cycle, the swelling potential decreased
significantly /.ig.50. Similar results were obtained by using cement as the stabili%ing agent for the fly ash. .ig.&'
shows the results of the study.
Fi'.5 Cyclic swell!shrink behaviour of expansive soil provided with lime!stabili%ed fly ash cushion
Fi'.(6 Cyclic swell!shrink behaviour of expansive soil provided with cement!stabili%ed fly ash cushion
CNC7!SINS
The problems associated with foundations in expansive soils are discussed. The merits and the demerits of the
different foundation techni#ues in vogue are highlighted. Two new innovative foundation techni#ues, the
granular pile!anchor and stabili%ed fly ash cushion, have been proposed.
<ranular pile!anchor not only reduces heave but also exhibits considerable uplift resistance. The lateral swell
pressure also contributes to the uplift resistance.
Stabili%ed fly ash cushions, using either lime or cement as the stabili%ing agent, have been found to be
efficacious in arresting the heave of the expansive clay beds. +evelopment of cementitious bonds due to
po%%olanic action in the cushion has been found to be responsible for the mitigation of heave. The techni#ue has
been found to be more effective than either the sand cushion or the CS cushion. $t does not suffer from the
drawbacks of either.
REFERENCES
$.S1 &356!&58', &564 /revised0. Code of 2ractice for Classification of Soils, ,ureau of $ndian Standards, ew
+elhi.
$.S.1 484', 2art JG, &588. Code of 2ractice for Classification of Soils, ,ureau to $ndian Standards, ew +elhi.
$.S1 45&&, 2art $$$, &56'. Code of 2ractice for +esign and Construction of 2ile .oundations, /&
st
9evision0,
,ureau of $ndian Standards, ew +elhi.
7atti, 9.7. /&5850. Search for Solutions to 2roblems in ,lack Cotton Soils, $ndian <eotech. Krl., 5, &!6'.
2hani 7umar, ,.9., Srirama 9ao, -, +ayakar ,abu, 9 and Suresh, 7 /4''80. 9esponse of <ranular 2ile!
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&58.
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2ile!-nchors in Expansive Clay ,eds in Situ. -SCE Krl. of <eotechnical and <eoenvironmental Engineering,
&((/)0, )(&!)(6.
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+uring Cycle ?etting and +rying, $ntl. Krl. of <eotechnical Engineering, 3/&0, &&&!&&6.
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<eotechnical, Krl., ('/&0, &!C5.