Enhancement of the Strength and Swelling Characteristics of Expansive Clayey Soil Using Nano-Clay Material

The main goal of this work is to investigate the effect of addition of nano-clay material on the improvement of strength and swelling potential of an expansive clayey soil. The geotechnical properties of a selected expansive clayey soil obtained from Irbid city were determined for soil classification purposes. Free swelling and unconfined compressive strength UCS were conducted on soil samples with different percentages of nano-clay added at about 0.1% to 3.0% by weight and compared to samples free of nano-clay material. The results showed that the addition of nano-clay may increase the strength of expansive soil at low doses, however, swelling potential decreased with the addition of nano-clay.