ISSN: 1945-7545
CODEN: GTJODJ
Published Online: 17 November 2003
Page Count: 3

Alternative Encasement Materials for Clod Test

Krosley, L
Graduate student, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Likos, WJ
Assistant professor, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

Lu, N
Associate professor, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Engineering, Golden, CO

(Received 12 June 2002; accepted 21 January 2003)

Abstract

The Clod test has been often used in the United States for obtaining the relationship between soil volume or volumetric strain and water content for expansive soils. Alternative encasement materials non-toxic to humans and non-hazardous to the environment were examined for the Clod test. It is shown that Elmer's craft glue is superior to the commonly used solution of Dow saran resin and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) for its non-hazardous nature, low cost, and fast testing time. For several different expansive soils, nearly identical volumetric strain-water content curves were obtained using the traditional solution of Dow saran resin and MEK and Elmer's craft glue. 3M adhesive spray was shown to be not suitable for encasement material. It is concluded that Elmer's craft glue can be reliably used as an excellent alternative encasement material for the clod test.

Keywords:
expansive soil, volumetric strain, clod test, encasement material

Paper ID: GTJ11259J
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ11259J
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