Session 2/19
Determination of Swelling Pressure of Black Cotton Soil —
A Method
Méthode pour déterminer la pression de gonflement dans le sol dénommé « black cotton»
by R . M. P âlit , M .S c., Senior Research A ssistant, C ollege o f Military Engineering, Kirkee, P oon a-3, India
Summary
A method of measuring the swelling pressure of heavy plastic
clays is described and the results o f some preliminary results are
given.
Introduction1)
A typical heavy plastic clay called Black cotton soil occurs
in large parts o f mid-western India. The soils ow e their origin
to the D eccan Trap which is an extensive volcanic form ation
o f basaltic rocks. This type o f soil has a number o f charac­
teristics com parable to the tschem osem soil group. From the
pedogenic considerations these soils have been tentatively
termed as “ immature tropical tsch em osem ” by Basu and Sirur
(1938), “ immature because the leaching process has n ot pro­
ceeded as far as in the proper tschem osem and tropical because
o f the evidences o f the breakdown o f the silicate com plex in
certain soils ” . Black cotton soils also contain m uch less humus
than the tschem osem soils.
W hen buildings are founded on black cotton soil, it is
generally found that they suffer damage, unless special pre­
cautions are taken. The causes for such damage are the ex­
cessive swelling and shrinkage o f the soil that take place when
m oisture finds its way into the subsoil under the foundations
and subsequently dries up during the hot period. D am age to
structures due to these reasons may be avoided if the follow ing
m ethods are adopted:—
(а) The foundation is carried down to a depth, n ot affected
by seasonal m oisture variations.
(б) The foundation load is such that the pressure on the soil
under dead load itself equals or exceeds the swelling pressure
o f the soil.
*) Sin ce the co m p letio n o f the first ph ase o f investigation under report,
author’s atten tion has been drawn to a paper entitled “ Suggested m ethod
o f test for e x p a n sio n pressures o f rem oulded s o ils ” by F. N . H veem ,
“ Procedure fo r testing s o ils ” — A .S .T .M . C o m m ittee D -1 8 , describing a
sim ilar m eth o d .
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Sommaire
Méthode pour mesurer la pression de gonflement dans les argiles
plastiques lourdes suivie des résultats de quelques essais prélimi-
naires.
The former m ethod as in (a) may n o t be always practicable
especially in case o f roads and runways, and a know ledge o f
the value o f the swelling pressure o f soil w ould be considered
a necessary pre-requisite wherever the second m ethod is to be
adopted.
It is obvious that the am ount o f swelling pressure o f a soil
will depend on the type and percentage o f clay it contains, the
initial density and m oisture content, the final degree o f satura­
tion attained and the depth o f the soil layer. T his paper
describes a laboratory m ethod o f test by w hich swelling pres­
sure o f an undisturbed or remoulded sam ple o f soil can be
determined, and an apparatus to carry ou t such tests. The
presentation also includes results o f experim ents carried out
with a representative sam ple o f black cotton soil remoulded
in the laboratory.
Apparatus
T he apparatus for carrying out the test consists o f the fo l­
low in g:—
A swelling pressure testing apparatus as show n in Fig. 1. It
consists o f a device by w hich the rem oulded or undisturbed
soil sam ple in a m ould is confined between tw o porous stones
covered with water. The water bath containing the m ould is
placed on the base o f the frame work. A plunger piece is placed
on the top porous stone and the ram attached to the proving
ring is adjusted so that it com es in contact with the plunger
piece. Pressure exerted by the soil sam ple is transmitted to
the proving ring, the deflection o f which is recorded in the
dial gauge. The relationship between load and deflection o f the
proving ring being know n, the applied pressure due to swelling
can be determined.
M oulds— This is a hollow cylinder 3 inch in inside diameter
and 4 inch in length. It is fitted with a perforated base plate.
The clearance between the cylindrical wall o f the m ould and
the porous stone or plunger piece must be sufficient to prevent
Experimental Procedure
The m ould with the soil sam ple, porous stones and plunger
is put inside a water bath and the w hole is placed on the base
o f the frame under the ram o f the testing apparatus in such a
way that the top o f the plunger com es directly under the ram.

F ig. 2 Sw ellin g Pressure vs. T im e

Pression de gonflem en t en fo n ctio n ’ du tem ps

The ram is then manipulated to touch the plunger. The bath

is then filled with water so that the w hole sam ple is under
water. A s the sam ple begins to absorb water it tends to swell
and deflection occurs in the proving ring indicating the pres­
sure it exerts. T he readings in the extensom eter is taken daily
F ig. 1 A pparatu s for Sw ellin g Pressure M easurem ents
until m axim um constant reading is obtained.
A ppareil pou r m esurer la pression de gonflem en t

Results
friction, yet sm all enough to keep the soil from being squeezed
out. M oulds o f different dim ensions may be used as necessary. Experiments have been carried out with rem oulded sam ples
For undisturbed sam ples, a m ould with cutting edge is used. o f black cotton soil (characteristics see Table 1) o f 3 inch in
diameter and o f different heights, com pacted at optim um m ois­
ture content to its A .A .S .H .O . density. A typical set o f results
Preparation o f the Test Specimen
is given in Fig. 2, where the sam ple height is 3.25 inch. Fig. 3
Remoulded sam ple— The soil is first dried in the sun and then give the results o f experiments with different heights o f the soil
pulverised and passed through a sieve. The exact quantity samples.
o f dry soil required to make a sam ple o f definite height in the
m ould at its A .A .S .H .O . or any other required density is cal­
culated and the corresponding weight o f sundry soil is taken
in a basin and mixed with the requisite am ount o f water to
bring the soil to optim um m oisture content (O .M .C .) or any
other desired m oisture content. The soil is mixed thoroughly
and then com pacted in the m ould which gives pressure by
means o f a hydraulic jack fitted in a sturdy framework. The
height o f the sam ple is accurately measured by means o f an
extensom eter suitably fitted to the frame. The base plate and
the plunger are then separated from the m ould and porous
stones are fitted on the top and bottom o f the sample. The
sam ple is then ready for the test.
Undisturbed sam ples—The soil is first excavated up to a depth
below which the sam ple is to be taken. The surface o f the soil
at the required depth is m ade level and a m ould o f required OS 1-0 1-5 2 -0 i-S 3 -0 3 -5 o
H E IG H T OF TH E SA M PLE IM IN C H E S .
height and diameter, and provided with a cutting edge, is
pushed into the soil. It is then rem oved and the soil is trimmed
F ig. 3 R e lation betw een S w ellin g Pressure, V olu m e E xpansion and
from both ends o f the m ould and the surfaces made level. The H e ig h t o f the Sam ples
m ould is then interposed between tw o porous stones with filter R e la tio n entre la pression d e gon flem en t et l’exp an sion du v o ­
paper and is ready for the test. lu m e et la hauteur d e l’éch antillon

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Table 1 Chemical and Mechanical Characteristics of the Material pressure is not directly proportional to the increase o f height,
Used though increase o f the swelling pressure does take place with
increase o f height o f the test sam ple at optim um m oisture con ­
Acid insoluble 59.53“ Liquid limit 96.5%
Fe20 3 9.29% No. 40 Plastic limit 40.4% tent and m axim um density.
AI2O 3 13.68% sieve Plastic index 56.1% It will be noticed that the curve in Fig. 3 tends to become
CaO 6.11% oven A.A.S.H.O. 24.2% flat thus leading to an ultimate value o f constant swelling
MgO 3.98% dried optim. moist, cont. pressure. H ow ever, in order to arrive at a m ethod o f deter­
Org. matt 1.53% A.A.S.H.O. 103 lbs./cu.ft. mining the working stress due to the swelling pressure in a
maximum density foundation soil, for the total thickness o f the expansible layer
Gravel 2.40% Shrinkage limit 8% from sm all scale laboratory tests, further experim entations are
Coarse sand 4.40% Volumetric shrinkage
warranted on the lines indicated in this paper. Further in­
Fine sand 7.40% 63%
Silt 19.00% Shrinkage ratio 2.07 vestigations are being carried out both with remoulded and
Clay 65.80% Specific gravity 2.706 g/cnr undisturbed soil samples, with variable cross section but with
C.B.R. value (modified constant height, with a view to study the influence o f the width
A.A.S.H.O.) at saturated o f the soil sam ple on its swelling pressure.
condition 2.3%

Acknowledgment
Discussion
This work has been carried ou t as a programme o f research
In the tests described above, swelling pressure is measured on Indian Soils in the Engineer Research W ing o f the College
at virtually constant volum e, the deform ation o f the proving o f Military Engineering, P oona, India.
ring itself being extrem ely sm all. The swelling which is allowed
to take place can be neglected for practical purposes. The
stronger the proving ring used, the less will be the swelling References
effect. B asu an d S iru r (1938): T h e Indian Journal o f A gricultural Science,
From the results it may be seen that the increase o f swelling V o l. V III, P art V .

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