Physical understanding of the links between soil swelling, texture,structure, cracking, and sample size is of great interest for the physicalunderstanding of many processes in the soil-air-water system and forapplications in civil, agricultural, and environmental engineering. Thebackground of this work is an available chain of interconnected physicalshrinkage curve models for clay, intra-aggregate matrix, aggregated soilwithout cracks, and soil with cracks. The objective of the work is togeneralize these models to the case of swelling, and to construct thephysical-swelling-model chain with a step-by-step transition from clay toaggregated soil with cracks. The generalization is based on thorough accountingfor the analogies and differences between shrinkage and swelling and thecorresponding use, modification, or replacement of the soil shrinkage features.Two specific soil swelling features to be used are: (i) air entrapping in poresof the contributing clay; and (ii) aggregate destruction with the formation ofnew aggregate surfaces. The input for the prediction of the swelling curve ofan aggregated soil coincides with that of the available model of the shrinkagecurve. The analysis of available data on the maximum shrink-swell cycle of twosoils with different texture and structure, accounting for sample size isconducted as applied to swelling curves and to the residual crack volume andmaximum-swelling-volume decrease after the shrink-swell cycle. Results of theanalysis show evidence in favor of the swelling model chain.
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