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Investigating the Collapsible Behavior of Sedimentary Soil in Shallow Foundations

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Abstract

Some unsaturated soils present volumetric instability with moisture variation, under constant stress. This paper presents results of an investigation on the behavior of a soil subjected to wetting, aimed at applying shallow foundations. The investigation occurred through laboratory tests (on natural and compacted samples) and field tests (load tests on plates with diameters of 0.80 m and 0.10 m), for analysis of the load x settlement curve and the behavior of natural soil collapse and compressed. From the results, it is highlighted that both in the laboratory and in the field, the undisturbed soil showed collapse behavior when wet, under stresses > 100 kN/m2; the compacted soil showed a significant reduction of settlement by collapse, indicating that it is a treatment option to support superficial foundations, being important to be careful with the width of the compacted layer; field tests, with different sizes of plates, suggest correlations between them, as well as with edometric tests; the load tests, with a 0.10 m diameter plate, proved to be promising for estimating the admissible stress of fine textured soils and for estimating the potential for collapse in the field, being able to help the projects of small works, supported on shallow foundations.

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Source: Google Earth and UFCA—Adapted

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Source: Modified from Xavier (2018)

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Data Availability

Some data generated or analyzed during this study are available in the repository: https://repositorio.ufpe.br/handle/123456789/32583. The data refer to the quote by Xavier JM (2018). Some data generated or analyzed during this study are available at the Library of the Federal University of Cariri, through Course Completion Work Monographs. Data are however available from the authors upon request. The data refer to citations by Alves VLS (2020), Chaves AMM (2018) and Landim IC (2017).

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Funding

The authors declare that the studies carried out to obtain data that will be published in the article had financial support from CNPq-National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, through the author Xavier JM’s master’s scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Cariri, Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, Brazil

    Ana Patrícia Nunes Bandeira, João Barbosa de Souza Neto, Antônio Maciel Moura Chaves & Victor Luiz da Silva Alves

  2. Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Roberto Quental Coutinho

  3. Faculdade de Integração do Sertão, Colegiado de Engenharia Civil, Serra Talhada, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Jailly Moreira Xavier

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  1. Ana Patrícia Nunes Bandeira
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Contributions

APNB, JBSN and RQC guided data collection during the research phase. They also elaborated and revised the text of the article. JMX, AMMC and VLSA contributed with in situ and laboratory tests. They also revised the text of the article.

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Correspondence to Ana Patrícia Nunes Bandeira.

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Bandeira, A.P.N., de Souza Neto, J.B., Coutinho, R.Q. et al. Investigating the Collapsible Behavior of Sedimentary Soil in Shallow Foundations. Geotech Geol Eng 42, 2725–2743 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-023-02701-4

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