LAUSR

Abstract In this paper, a detailed study has been carried out to investigate the change in the void ratio and degree of saturation which occurs as shrinkage takes place for the three soils with widely varying basic properties. Soil samples were compacted at four different initial compacted conditions by varying their initial dry density and moisture content to investigate the effect of initial compaction conditions on the shrinkage behaviour. It has been brought out that a significant variation in degree of saturation takes place, as against present understanding, during the shrinkage process which varies appreciably for the three soils studied. The saturation water content at the end of shrinkage, i.e. shrinkage limit gets significantly influenced by the initial density and water content. The influence of percent of clay fines in the soil is predominant on the behaviour as shrinkage takes place.