CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF EXPANSIVE CLAYS OF PERU ARNALDO BY CariLLo Gi Peru sueuRY ‘A statenent of the problem which have occurred in the North Region of Peru due to the ex pansion of clays 1s given, indicating places and types of the phenomena occurring. ‘A contribution to the deaten of foundations of Hight structures built over these 30 Proposed. A method te analyze the behavior of the wall during 3 ts ‘expansion of uaderlying clays Is Dresented, calculating by means of test and simple equations the bending moments that would per- mit an estimate of the effects ef the phenomenon on these Tight “A number of undisturbed and remolded soils were tested in the Laboratory to structures, classify thee and to determine their charactertstics of swelling which are necessary for the evaluation of the reduction factor for the bending moment that 1s tions and that depend on the intrinsic characteristics of the studied soi], produced by the effect of swelling under founda The method may be utilized to help te estimate these phenomena in places where there 1s no experience and the Problem causes considerable effects in foundations. DISCUSSION Within a few years considerable damage has occurred in foundations, due to the pro= cess of clay expansion, which affects Tight structures in the North Peru Region occupying areas wore or less extended espectally in Piura and Lamayeqye and in less degree in La Liberta In Peru, irreversible movements appar- ently predominate, 1.e., expansion of the sof] unts1 equilibrium 1s reached. These move- ments have similar characteristics to those ‘occurring in other parts of the world having lar characteristics of climate and geo- graphic position. Cyclical movenent 1s less dominant, since our geographical region does not present very marked variation in ambient tenperature. These irreversible movenents that have deen detected in different zones of Peru produce progressing swelling of the foundation and difterent parts of the build ing that eventually cawses tts partial or total destruction. The phenomenon in Pere ws been attri- buted to dry climate and permanent aridity with cycles ef heavy rainfalls such as occur in Piura where the climate 13 hot because {t is near the Equatoy and very ery and arid due to the lack of periodic rainfalls in the zone, a condition that cyclically fs modified with heavy rainfalls every 20 years, as ft occurs in San Lorenzo Colonization and the uiroz Canal System, The probable causes which produce the swelling are localized inundation due to the Tupture of drainage installations, storm water Severs, irrigation of gardens, etc. In'this se a quick modification of the moisture condi- tion of the soil 1s produced, causing a rapid increase of the clays’ volune with subsequent danage to any light structure being supcorted on them, such as those houses in Bolognes! Urbanization in Chiclayo. Other frequent Causes are the presence of veyetation near the buildings, which convey moisture to Jocalized zones of drying, producing changes in natural water content of the soil and sub- Sequent expansion of clays. This type of Soil has been predominant in some zones of Ghiclayo and Piura. An tewortant case ts the modification in the motsture eeu librium of the clays due to the construction of a struc- ture over then. This effect {s evident around Piura, especially in some areas in San Lorenzo Colonization, In these zones the evaporation 48 higher than the precipitation, and in the part covered by the heuses, produces an in- Crease of the natural water content that sales 2 desinning to tne expansion of the clays. 1314 Finally, we may consider the case of a definite increase of the moisture in hydraulic works placed in this type of soil, such as geaurred in the Quiroz Canal Syston in which it is impossible to maintain the original degree of saturation of the sot] beneath the structure (Carillo 1966). For many years, several techniques and laboratory devices have been developed to determine qualitatively and quantitatively the characteristics of swelling of the clays. This great variety of theories and apparatus have been discussed by: Holtz and Gibbs (1956), Youssef and Sabri (1957), Alpan (1957), Jen ings and knight (1987), Lanbe and Wnit- ‘man (1959), MacDowell (1959), Warkentin (1962), Seed, Woodward and Lundgren (1964) , Ring (1965), Kormontk and Zeitien (1965), Salas (1965), Koble (1966), etc. This paper does not present development of a new tech- nique, but rather a method to evaluate the + behavior of a ight foundation in the pres- ence of expansive sofls is proposed since ‘the problem not yet satisfactorily resolved 1s the construction of houses of 1ight structure and economic cost over these materials. This case is very common in many countries of South Anerica which attenpt to alleviate their housing shortage by placing this type of building in zones formerly cultivated and near the cities, The characteristics of the soils are highly expansive and when by rea son of rural or agricultural design into these rural areas, houses of reduced cost must be built they are subsequently seri- ously affected:by the phenonenon in study. In this paper a contribution to solve this problem is showed, beginning the research of sieple solutions to estimate the effects of the expansion of soils over these Tight foundations. After having developed a program of testing samples of sofls obtained from the two reglons of Peru where cases of this plie- nowenon have been presented, there has been established a method for a process of unidt- ensional expansion of soils that nrnduces vertical pressure over continuous foundation loads by light walls, evaluating the bending ovenent that the phenomenon induces in the wall under the following simplified hypoth esis: 1, The process of expansion of clays produces heave that normally has a dow form In which maximum Final heave tx fn the cente of the structural element of the foundat to affected, This state of detormation corre~ sponds to a probable modification of the moisture equilibrium of the soil by localized overflowing or to a continuous swelling of the clay under zones covered or any other Cause that produces larger expansions of the soi] in the center of the foundation than in its ends. Z._ It 1s supposed that the Final swelling 4s small in comparison with the total length of the loaded elenent, and that this deforma- tion does not extend to the building limits. For this reason its geonetry can be taken, without serious error, as changing linearly in Ertanguiar shape fron zero to. the max imum Heave with respect to the middle of the length of the elenent. (Figure 1.) 3. The process of swelling of the soil 4s considered in two stages:. the first con- ‘sists of free expansion of the clays under the action of an hypothetic structure similar to the real, but with zero weight; the second under the action of the structure with its real weight which produces a flattening in the center of the done, inducing in this part of the soil pressures of swelling whose distri- bution is supposed to be uniform. The structure is cantilevered at fts ends and supported in the central region, 4, The evaluation of the expansive char= acteristics of the soil fs mude under the assumption of an elastic process in which the expansion 1s a reversible process in the re- compression branch of the stress-strain curve. For each case a Coefficient of Reaction of the soil, fs evaluated by means of a compression test'on the soil after swelling in an oedoneter until equilibrium is reached. The test also permits evaluation of final heave without load. Considering this hypothesis whose extreme parts are found in cantilever, Will be subjected to a maximum bending monent equal to: Minox = (Vota a) where: W = Load per unit length of wall L_ = Total length of eliment K, * Coefficiont of roaction of the clay after swelling OH = Maximum heave. According to these considerations and in, order to develop certain correlations with relations to estimate the effects of exnansive Clays on foundations. . The main object of the test program was to find physical and mechanical characteristics ofthe several samples of expansive soils, taken from the two geographic regions of Peru where appreciable movements have been found, Table 1 shows the origin, designation and the complete index properties for 10 smples of soils; however, 23 additional samples were tested from other zones of the same regions in which it was not possible to obtain complete program of tests. The soils were sampled and tested by the Soil Mechanic Laboratory of the Hatfonal Univer- sity of Engineering. For purposes of classi- fication and identification all the tested 1s have been Tocated on Casagrande’s Plasticity Chart shown in Figure 2. The respective-granulonetric curves of the 10 Selected samples are shown in Figure 3, Tests were also carried out to determine the magnitude of the final heave (4H), Fig- ure 4, and compression tests were run'on the sofls after reaching thetr equiltbrium of free expansion. 3 Table 1 and Figures 2 and 3 show that the tested soils range from medium plastic: to very plastic clays, with the latter predom inating; most of them are above the “A” line, on the Plasticity Chart, except some silty clays of high and medium degree of expansion, auch as the sofls of Quiroz Canal Systen, Most of the sofls tested have Iiquid linits greater than 40 and plasticity indexes higher than 20, reaching in some cases, as the Talara and Piura clays, appreciably higher values such as Mtquid Tinit 148 and plastic- ity index of 93. On the time versus heave tests the magnitude of the final heave vas determined which varies fron 2.9 to 17.51, excluds the exceptional case of the bentonitic clays of Talara in which there was 2 maximum of 92t swelling.. When this sof] was tested, after 24 hours from the beginning of satur: tion, it practically exploded producing a very tmportant, difficult to measure, swelling such as is shown in Figure 5. In most of the cases of the 5 tested sols, practically all obtained expansion equilibrium after 28 days for undisturbed samples tested in the laboratory, Figure 4. However, for Quiroz Canal System, H. Montero (1960) previously reported that saturat fon was produced in 7 to 28 days, or on the average after 15 days of continuous satura- ton, yet in spite this, damage was produced in some cases in these structures two months after setting the revetment, It 8 also noted in most of the cases that the tested soils presented 2 high unit weight that reached 2.00 ton/n? for relatively low water content such as 14% in Talara’s highly expansive clays. CONCLUS TONS ‘According to the test programs carried out and to the values obtained by the appli- cation of the formita (1) to the real cas there fs a similarity between the proposed formula and those previously presented by the South African authors and Salas-Serratosa, & using for this case a reduction factor of the maximum bending moment in which the intrinsic swelling characteristics of the sot) and the dimensions of the foundation are used. These are factors that are easy to evaluate by means of simple tests, Figures 4 and 6, espe- cially for those areas where the problem of expansion 15 scarcely known, and therefore there fs no experience with the phenomenon, On the other hand, for the case in which the ultimate bearing cipacity of the sof] fs less than or equal to the pressure of swelling, there would be produced a condition of plastic flow of the clay; the established hypothesis. is valid {f the parameter K, 1s substituted by the value of the uncont fed conoression (a4), tested in equilibrium condition of the expan sion. In the case in which the contact pres- sure transmitted by the structure 1s greater or equal to the swelling oressure, that will Produce an elastic condition of deformation; it 1s supposed the weight of the structure will be able to absorb entirely the swelling ores- sure, Gut ff the wetght is very high, and therefore the unit oad transmitted by the structure {s less than the pressure produced by the swelling over the foundation, it will generate a condition of elastic deformation, but with an incomplete flattening of the central producing a residual heaving of the Structure. If this {s small and within certain tolerable linits it won't cause appreciable damage, but 1f {t exceeds these limits, 1t will produce cracks that will damage Srreparably tthe houses. ‘ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The author would Tike to thank the Research Professor, D. Resendiz N., Institute of Engi- neering, National University of Mexico, for the original suggestion to this paper and the thoughtful guidance offered throughout ay resi- dence in Mexico City, My gratitude to the authorities of the Mational University of Engineering, and to the members of the Soil Mechanic Laboratory for their valuable aid. 15