ABSTRACT
Environmental factors significantly affect the soil volume with changing phenomena such as shrinkage, swelling, and cracks. However, all of these phenomena are associated with moisture content of soil. Shrinkage and swelling have been known to geotechnical engineering for years, but cracking behavior is relatively new. To characterize the crack, the sorption, tensile, and fracture of soil must be examined. A schematic diagram illustrates the relationship between shrinkage and swelling as shown in Figure 6.1. The shrinkage process is caused by thermal energy, however, the swelling process is due to multimedia energy; therefore, these two processes both are associated with moisture content but they are not reversible. The causes of shrinkage and swelling are mainly due to the flow path directions as discussed in Section 5.6 and Figure 5.7. The interrelationship between cracking and fracture phenomena is illustrated in a schematic diagram (Figure 6.2). Detailed explanations of Figure 6.2 will be presented in Section 6.9. In this chapter, discussion focuses on mechanisms of shrinkage, swelling, cracking, and fracture as well as sorption and tensile characteristics of soils with special interest in contaminated fine-grained soils.
