ABSTRACT
The water content of unsaturated expansive soil is a function of the suction pressure of the soil. This relationship between the water content in the soil and the suction can be expressed in a plot of volumetric water content versus suction known as the soil-water characteristic curve. More established uses of this soil-water characteristic curve are to predict the volume-change characteristics, derivation of permeability function and shear strength function of expansive clays. In this study, an attempt is made to study the soil-water characteristic curves of certain expansive clays of Chennai and hence to evaluate the volume change characteristics and permeability functions which may be used to evaluate the percentage swell and permeability of the soil at different degrees of saturation at a given density.
