Author : Manoj Kumar and Vishal Arora

Soils tend to shrink when they lose moisture. In particular, fine-grained soils are susceptible to shrinkage and the resulting volume change. Shrinkage can cause cracking of soils that can adversely influence the engineering properties and behavior of the soils. The adverse effects include decreased strength of the cracked soils and increased flow through the soils. The objective of this research is to review previous studies, explain the problems encountered, and then suggest a way forward for future studies. The study shows that when there is an increase in soil density, there is a decrease in the volume of the voids in the soil, and this comes with an attendant reduction in volume shrinkage, which in turn causes a decrease in cracks in the soil. This shows that the type of clay (soil) has a direct effect on volume changes. Moreover, the study showed that treatment by cement and lime is not suitable. Treatment with fiber is a good method used to curtail and resist shrinkage in tensile force, but it is not suitable for all types of soil. In addition, microscopic analysis is a powerful method used in determining volume change. Consequently, itis recommended that scanning microscopy and digital image analysis be used for all analyses of soil with or without fiber and nanomaterial.

Keywords: Soil Mechanics, Cracking of Soil, Soil Desiccation, Hydraulic Conductivity, Soil Image Analysis

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.4, No.6 (Dec-2014)