Influence of Physical and Mineralogical Properties on Swelling of Soils in Yolo County, California

Abstract Surface samples from 16 California soils with a wide range of swelling characteristics were studied. The coefficient of linear extensibility (COLE) of each soil was correlated with other properties. Total clay content was highly correlated with COLE ( r 2 = 0.868) while the ratio of expandable clay/total clay (partial r 2 = 0.454) also significantly affects swelling. The percent of expandable clay is the single variable best correlated with COLE ( r 2 = 0.907). Models established to predict COLE from other soil properties were selected from the literature and applied to these soils. Results are compared with measured COLE values, and a new model calculating COLE from interlayer expansion of the smectite fraction of soil is proposed.