The effect of compactive energy level on some soil properties

Abstract This paper presents the effect of the applied compactive energy on the shear strength, permeability and swelling pressure of compacted cohesive soil at constant water content. Unconfined compression tests, permeability tests, and swelling pressure tests are performed on a selected soil to achieve the results of this study. The tests were conducted on the soil at optimum water content and at both the dry and the wet side of the optimum water content. It was found for a given water content on the dry side of the optimum water content the shear strength increases with increasing the compactive energy, increasing the compactive energy has a small or no effect on the unconfined compressive strength when the water content of the soil is above the optimum. Additionally, increasing the compactive energy at the dry side of the optimum will decrease the permeability and increase the swelling pressure of the compacted soil.