Clay Minerals, (2009) 44, 319–326

Engineering characteristics of sand-clay

mixtures used for clay cores
of earth-fill dams
Z . G Ö K A L P *

Erciyes University Seyrani Agricultural Faculty, Agricultural Structures and Irrigation Department, 38039, Kayseri,
Turkey

(Received 29 April 2009; revised 17 May 2009; Editor: John Adams)

AB ST R ACT : Clay is the main construction material for clay cores of earth-fill dams. Clay
minerals swell when they become wet and shrink when they dry out; cracks develop as they lose
moisture. If precautions are not taken to prevent seepage through these cracks, dam failures may
result. In this study, sand was added to montmorillonite-dominant clay soils to investigate the effect
of sand-inclusion rates on the engineering characteristics of clay soils used in the construction of clay
cores of earth-fill dams. Changes in the consistency limits, compaction characteristics, permeability,
stress-strain relationships and swelling characteristics with increasing sand inclusion rates were
evaluated. Based on the results from experimental trials, a 30% sand inclusion rate appears to be the
optimum proportion; most of the swelling occurred in the voids of grains and led to permeability
levels below the allowable limits for earth-fill dams.

KEYWORDS: sand-clay mixtures, clay core, expansive clay, earth-fill dams, montmorillonite.

Earth-fill dams, also called earthen, rolled-earth or
simply earth dams, are constructed as simple
embankments of well compacted earth. These
dams are very common in Turkey and in many
parts of the world. Embankment materials are
usually obtained from nearby available sites.
Seepage through the embankment is generally
controlled by impervious layers or zones built
inside the embankment. The core of an embank-
ment plays an important role in seepage control and
stability of the earth-fill dams.
Pure plastic clays have been used extensively as
the core material of embankment dams all over the
world. Adding some granular soils to pure plastic
clays increases the stiffness of the clay material and
decreases the differential behaviour between zones
* E-mail: zgokalp@erciyes.edu.tr
DOI: 10.1180/claymin.2009.044.3.319
of the embankment (Hosseini, 2002). As the
plasticity of clay increases, cracks tend to develop
during long dry spells. During periods of wet
weather, water fills the cracks and fissures. As it is
slowly absorbed, the unit weight of the clay
increases but its shear strength decreases
(Anonymous, 1998). It is known that inclusion of
granular particles will enhance the shear resistance
of clay. Embankments are zoned so as to use as
much material as possible from the excavation site
and from the borrow areas with the shortest haul
distances and the least wastage. At the same time it
is necessary to maintain stability and control
seepage (Anonymous, 1986). Montmorillonite is
the most common clay mineral found in borrow
sites of earth-fill dams in Turkey. The type of clay
mineral plays an important role in determination of
heave in expansive soils. Of the three types of clay
mineral illite, kaolinite and montmorillonite
the last one possesses the greatest ability to swell
(Gromko, 1974).

# 2009 The Mineralogical Society

320 Z. Gökalp
Several investigations have been carried out to
determine the factors affecting the swelling of
clayey soils (Komornik & David, 1969; El-Sohby &
El-Sayed, 1981; Al-Mhaidip, 1999; Azam &
Abduljauwad, 2000). The major factors found are
mainly concerned with the physical properties of
the particles, namely the mass of soil, initial water
content, type of clay mineral, initial dry density,
clay content and type of coarse-grained fraction.
The geotechnical engineering community has
recognized that problematic soils may be enhanced
by including several additives or admixtures.
Soil mixtures such as silty sands, clayey sands and
silty clays are more commonly found in nature and
in earth constructions than pure clays, sands and silts.
However, the behaviour of soil mixtures is not well
understood since soil mechanics has concentrated
mainly on pure soils (Gutierrez, 2003). Several
researchers studied the behaviour of mixtures
containing various ingredients (Shafiee, 2008; Wang
et al., 2007; Mahasneh & Shawabkeh, 2005).
In this study, sand was added to clay soil in
determined proportions and the engineering char-
acteristics of the mixtures were investigated. The
effects of sand-inclusion rates on consistency limits,
compaction characteristics, permeability, stress-
strain relationships and swelling characteristics
were evaluated. Simple empirical equations are
proposed for predicting swelling potential and
swelling pressure of the mixtures as a function of
the engineering characteristics.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Material properties
Remoulded samples were prepared for use in the
experimental analysis. Natural clay soil was mixed
with granular sand samples in specified proportions.
Soil samples were taken from research fields of the
Ankara University Agricultural Faculty. They were
sieved through an ASTM #10 sieve (2 mm) and
portions finer than 2 mm were taken for mixture
preparation. Sand for mixtures was taken from sand
stores of the Construction Works Department of the
University. This material is washed and pre-sieved
river sand. These samples were also sieved through
a 2 mm sieve to remove particles larger than 2 mm
and were washed to remove any remaining
particles.
Mixtures were prepared by adding sand to soil
samples in specified amounts over the range
TABLE 1. Rate of mixtures.
Clay soil (%) Sand (%)
90 10
80 20
70 30
60 40
50 50
0 50%. Five mixture amounts were obtained by
mixing dry constituents (Table 1).
X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were carried out
on soil samples passed through the #200 sieve to
determine the clay mineralogy of the soils
(Whitting & Allardice, 1986). The tests were
carried out in the clay mineralogy laboratory of
the Turkish Institute of Mining. The XRD results
indicated that the original soil sample has a
montmorillonite-dominant clay mineralogy (Fig. 1).
Sieve and hydrometer analyses were carried out
on soil samples in accordance with the ASTM D
422 standard test procedure to determine the
particle-size distribution of the soil (Anonymous,
2000a). A grain-size distribution curve shows that
the original soil sample has more than 45% clay-
size particles of which ~65% were in the grain-size
range of 0.002 2 mm (Fig. 2).
The soil was classified using the Unified Soil
Classification System specified in the ASTM D
2487 standard test procedure (Anonymous, 2000b)
and the prepared mixture was classified as CL
(Clay-Loam).
Testing procedure
Following the preparation of the mixtures,
consistency limits, compaction characteristics,
permeability characteristics, stress-strain character-
istics and swelling properties were determined using
standard test procedures. The tests were carried out
in the geotechnical research laboratories of the Civil
Engineering Department of Gazi University,
Ankara, Turkey.
Atterberg limit tests were carried out on the soil
samples using the ASTM D 4318 standard test
procedure (Anonymous, 2000c) and liquid limits
(LL) and plastic limits (PL) of the soils were
determined. Shrinkage limits (SL) were determined
by the mercury method specified in the ASTM D
427 standard test method for shrinkage factors of
 Engineering characteristics: sand-clay mixtures for earth dams
FIG. 1. X-ray diffraction results.
soils (Anonymous, 2000d). Then, using these
consistency limit values, plasticity indices (PI),
liquidity indices (LI) and shrinkage indices (SI)
were calculated.
Compaction characteristics of mixtures were
determined by standard Proctor compaction tests
using the ASTM D 698 standard test procedure
(Anonymous, 2000e). The optimum water content
and maximum dry-unit weights of the samples were
determined.
A falling-head permeameter was used to deter-
mine the hydraulic conductivity of the mixtures
using the ASTM D5084 standard test procedure
(Anonymous, 2000f) under conditions specified by
Liu & Evett (1997). Since the material was to be
used for the clay core of an earth-fill dam, samples
were initially compacted at the optimum water
content to reach maximum dry-unit weights.
Conductivity tests were carried out on compacted
remoulded samples.
The stress-strain relationships and shear strength
FIG. 2. Grain-size distribution curve.
321
parameters (cohesion and angle of internal friction)
were determined using the ASTM D 4767 standard
test procedure (Anonymous, 2000g).
Standard constant volume swell tests were carried
out on statically compacted samples of the
mixtures. They were compacted at an optimum
water content and a one-dimensional odometer was
used to measure the swelling potential and swelling
pressure. Swell tests were carried out using the
ASTM D 4546 standard test procedure
(Anonymous, 2000h).
Simple empirical equations have been proposed
to indicate the relationships between the swelling
characteristics and other engineering characteristics
based on these results. The equations were derived
to indicate the relationship between swelling
potential and swelling pressure and the consistency
limits (liquid limit, plastic limit, and shrinkage
limit), consistency indices (liquidity index, plasti-
city index, and shrinkage index), compaction
characteristics (maximum dry unit weight,
optimum moisture content) and cohesion forces.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Test results
Test results for consistency limits, compaction
characteristics, permeability, stress-strain relations
and swelling properties are summarized in Table 2.
Changes in the consistency limits are presented
in Fig. 3. While the liquid limit shows an almost
linear change with sand-inclusion rates, the plastic
and shrinkage limits show a linear change up to
322 Z. Gökalp

TABLE 2. Summary of testing results.

SMR LL PL SL PI LI SI gdmax Wopt k SP SWP

(%) (%) (%) (%) (gr/cm3) (%) (cm/s) (%) (kg/cm2)
8
0 51.50 27.33 7.21 24.17 0.097 20.12 1.657 25.01 6.185610 2.94 0.750
8
10 44.59 25.55 6.33 19.04 0.030 19.22 1.718 24.75 9.947610 2.47 0.665
7
20 42.00 22.72 5.42 19.28 0.117 17.30 1.756 21.30 1.759610 2.06 0.590
7
30 36.80 18.57 4.38 18.23 0.352 14.19 1.780 20.50 3.877610 1.11 0.420
7
40 33.45 17.80 4.02 15.65 0.459 13.78 1.861 19.05 5.693610 0.89 0.380
6
50 30.01 17.59 3.95 12.42 0.595 13.64 1.886 17.98 1.366610 0.11 0.300

SMR: Sand mixture ratio, LL: Liquid limit, PL: Plastic limit, SL: Shrinkage limit, PI: Plasticity index
LI: Liquidity index, SI: Shrinkage index, SP: Swelling potential, SWP: Swelling pressure
gdmax: Maximum dry unit weight
wopt: Optimum moisture content
k: Permeability coefficient

30%, then maintain an almost constant state. When
the consistency limit plots are evaluated, it can be
seen that the pattern changes at 30% sand-inclusion
rate. Similar tendencies were observed in index
values obtained using these limit values and, again,
30% seems to be the critical change point (Fig. 4).
Compaction characteristics of mixtures are
shown in Fig. 5. Figure 5a shows the compaction
curves, 5b presents the change in optimum
moisture content and 5c presents the change in
maximum dry-unit weights. While optimum
moisture contents decreased with increasing sand-
inclusion rates, maximum dry-unit weights
increased with increasing sand rates. As seen in
Fig. 5c, a 30% sand-inclusion rate had the
distinctive characteristic of presenting a sharp
increase in maximum dry-unit weight, indicating
it to the best compaction figure.

FIG. 3. Changes in consistency limits.

 Engineering characteristics: sand-clay mixtures for earth dams
FIG. 4. Changes in consistency indices.
Hydraulic conductivities of the mixtures are
shown in Fig. 6. While the hydraulic conductivities
were at reasonable levels until the sand-inclusion
rate of 30% was reached, there was a significant
increase after 30% and conductivity values went
beyond the acceptable limits for use in the clay core
of an earth-fill dam. Here again, 30% has the
important characteristic of indicating a limiting
value.
Cohesion forces and internal angles of friction
were determined in order to investigate the stress-
strain relations (Fig. 7). While the cohesion forces
decreased with increasing sand-inclusion rates,
internal angles of friction increased. When the
changes in both figures were evaluated, it is clear
that 30% was again the distinctive ratio.
323
FIG. 5. Changes in compaction characteristics.
Swelling characteristics are presented in Fig. 8.
Both swell potential and swell pressure decreased
with increasing sand-inclusion rates. As seen in
plots showing the changes in sand rates, a 30%
sand-inclusion rate was again the critical point.
Hosseini (2002) recommended 40% fine and 60%
clay mixture for the clay core of an earth-fill dam
in Iran.
EMPIRICAL EQUATIONS
Empirical equations were developed to estimate
swelling characteristics by using the other important
engineering characteristics. For this purpose, the
relationships between swelling potential pressure
and consistency limits (liquid, plastic and shrinking
324 Z. Gökalp

FIG. 6. Changes in permeability.

limits), index values (plasticity, liquidity and

shrinkage index), compaction characteristics
(optimum moisture content, maximum dry density)
and cohesion forces were investigated. Swelling
potential and swelling pressure values were placed
on the y axis and the other engineering character-
istics were placed on the x axis. Then, the empirical
equation and corresponding R2 value representing
the relevant relationships were obtained. The
graphical display of the relationship between FIG. 8. Changes in swelling characteristics.
swelling characteristics and liquid limit and
cohesion force are shown in Figs 9 and 10,
respectively. The remaining empirical equations that liquidity index has yielded the largest value for
and corresponding R2 values are given in Table 3. R 2 both for swelling potential and swelling
When the equations are evaluated, it can be seen

FIG. 9. Relationship between liquid limit and swelling

FIG. 7. Changes in stress-strain characteristics. characteristics.
 Engineering characteristics: sand-clay mixtures for earth dams 325

CONCLUSIONS

The effects of sand-inclusion rates on engineering

FIG. 10. Relationship between cohesion forces and
swelling characteristics.
pressure. These equations can be used to estimate
swelling characteristics of similar soils or mixtures
by using other engineering characteristics.
characteristics of clay soils were evaluated and the
optimum rate was found in this study. Based on the
results obtained from laboratory tests, the following
conclusions were reached:
The properties of sand-clay mixtures are highly
influenced by the clay content. Variations in the
engineering characteristics are almost linear with
increasing clay content.
Consistency limits decreased with increasing fine
contents and a 30% sand-inclusion rate was a
distinctive value in the change; 30% was also
distinctive in the compaction characteristics curve;
permeability has the sharpest point at 30%.
The swelling characteristics have also exhibited
sharp changes at 30%. Based on these findings, it can
be stated that a 30% sand-inclusion rate significantly
changed the engineering characteristics of the mont-
morillonite-dominant clay soil. Simple empirical
equations were also obtained in this study to evaluate
the relationships between swelling characteristics and
other engineering characteristics. The liquidity index
was found to be highly dependent on both swelling
potential and swelling pressure of the mixtures.
In this study, only montmorillonite-dominant clay
soils were considered, since montmorillonite is the

TABLE 3. Empirical equations.

Relationship Empirical equation R2

SP-LL SP = 5.3545 Ln (LL) 18.031 0.9825

SP-PL SP = 0.0086 (PL)3 0.5967 (PL)2 + 13.875 (PL) 105.74 0.9653
SP-SL SP = 0.1309 (SL)3 2.3764 (SL)2 + 14.725 (SL) 28.754 0.9635
SP-PI SP = 4.4643 Ln (PI) 11.248 0.8738
SP-LI SP = -3.8229 (LI) + 2.4861 0.9894
SP-SI SP = 0.0407 (SI)3 2.1075 (SI)2 + 36.293 (SI) 205.96 0.9682
SP-wopt SP = 7.6554 Ln (wopt) 21.808 0.9305
SP-gdmax SP = –21.191 Ln (gdmak ) + 13.751 0.9281
SP-c SP = 2.2114 Ln (c) + 4.8569 0.9837

SWP-LL SWP = 0.884 Ln (LL) 2.7229 0.9784

SWP-PL SWP = 0.9044 Ln (PL) 2.2468 0.9757
SWP-SL SWP = 0.6976 Ln (SL) 0.6164 0.9784
SWP-PI SWP = –0.001 (PI)3 + 0.0565 (PI)2 0.9624 (PI) + 5.5074 0.8831
1,2783 (LI)
SWP-LI SWP = 0.6617 e 0.9932
SWP-SI SWP = 0.9945 Ln (SI) 2.25 0.970
SWP-wopt SWP = 1.269 Ln (wopt) 3.3622 0.9341
SWP-gdmax SWP = –3.5106 Ln (gdmak ) + 2.531 0.9306
SWP-c SWP = 0.3648 Ln (c) + 1.0553 0.9781

For symbols, see Table 2

326
most dominant clay mineral in Turkish soils. The
other two main clay minerals, other additives and
sand-inclusion rates may be taken into consideration
in future studies. The results of this study may
provide an insight into the behaviours of mixtures
including similar types of clay mineral and be used
in practice in solving some geotechnical and geo-
environmental problems.
REFERENCES
Al-Mhaidip A. (1999) Swelling behavior of expansive
shales from the middle region of Saudi Arabia.
Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 16,
291 307.
Anonymous (1986) Seepage Control in Embankments.
U.S. Department of Army, Engineering Manual
(EM), 1110-2-1901.
Anonymous (1998) Influence of short polymeric fibers
on crack development in clays. U.S. Army Engineer
Research and DevelopmentCenter, Repair-
Evaluation Maintenance Rehabilitation Technical
Note, GT SE-1.8.
Anonymous (2000a) Standard test method for particle-
size analysis of soils. Pp. 10 17 in: Annual Book of
ASTM Standards, D 422. American Society for
Testing and Materials, Section 4, 04.08(1).
Anonymous (2000b) Standard practice for classification
of soils for engineering purposes (Unified Soil
Classification System). Pp. 238 248 in: Annual
Book of ASTM Standards, D 2487. American Society
for Testing and Materials, Section 4, 04.08(1).
Anonymous (2000c) Standard test methods for liquid
limit, plastic limit, and plasticity index of soils. Pp.
546 558 in: Annual Book of ASTM Standards, D
4318. American Society for Testing and Materials,
Section 4, 04.08(1).
Anonymous (2000d) Standard test methods for shrink-
age factors of soils by the mercury method. Pp.
22 25 in: Annual Book of ASTM Standards, D 427.
American Society for Testing and Materials, Section
4, 04.08(1); 22-25.
Anonymous (2000e) Standard test method for laboratory
compaction characteristics of soil using standard
effort. Pp. 78 85 in: Annual Book of ASTM
Standards, D 698. American Society for Testing
and Materials, Section 4, 04.08(1).
Anonymous (2000f) Standard test method for measure-
ment of hydraulic conductivity of saturated porous
materials using a flexible wall permeameter. Pp.
985 992 in: Annual Book of ASTM Standards, D
5084. American Society for Testing and Materials,
Section 4, 04.08(1).
Anonymous (2000g) Standard test method for consoli-
Z. Gökalp
dated undrained triaxial compression test for cohe-
sive soils. Pp. 882 891 in: Annual Book of ASTM
Standards, D 4767. American Society for Testing
and Materials, Section 4, 04.08(1).
Anonymous (2000h) Standard test methods for one-
dimensional swell of settlement potential of cohesive
soils. Pp. 693 699 in: Annual Book of ASTM
Standards. American Society for Testing and
Materials, Section 4, 04.08(1).
Azam S. & Abduljauwad S.N. (2000) Influence of
gypsification on engineering behavior of expansive
clay. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Engineering, 126, 538 542.
El-Sohby M.A. & El-Sayed A.R. (1981) Some factors
affecting swelling of clayey soils. Geotechnical
Engineering, 12, 19 39.
Gromko G.J. (1974) Review of expansive soils. Journal
of the Geotechnical Engineering Division,
Proceedings of the American Society of Civil
Engineers, 100, 667 687.
Gutierrez M. (2003) Mixture theory characterization and
modeling of soil mixtures. Geomechanics, testing,
modeling, and simulation (GSP 143). 1st Japan-U. S.
Workshop on Testing, Modeling, and Simulation.
June 27 29, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Hosseini M.M. (2002) Performance of mixed-clay as
core material for earth dams. The Electronic Journal
of Geotechnical Engineering, 7(A), Available online:
http://www.ejge.com/2002/Ppr026/Abs026.htm
Komornik A. & David D. (1969) Prediction of swelling
pressure of clays. Journal of Soil Mechanics and
Foundation Engineering Division. ASCE, 95,
209 225.
Liu C. & Evett J.B. (1997) Soil Properties. Testing,
Measurement and Evaluation, 3rd edition. Prentice
Hall, New Jersey, USA.
Mahasneh B.Z. & Shawabkeh R.A. (2005) Compressive
strength and permeability of sand-cement-clay com-
posite and application for heavy metals stabilization.
Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering.
Available online: http://www.ejge.com/2005/
Ppr0528/Ppr0528.htm
Shafiee A. (2008) Permeability of compacted granule-
clay mixtures, Engineering Geology, 97, 199 208.
Wang J.P., Ling H.I. & Mohri Y. (2007) Stress-strain
behavior of a compacted sand-clay mixture. Pp.
491 502 in: Soil Stress-Strain Behavior;
Measurement, Modeling and Analysis (H.I. Ling, L.
Callisto, D. Leshchinsky & J. Koseki, editors).
Springer, The Netherlands.
Whitting L.D. & Allardice W.R. (1986) X-ray diffrac-
tion techniques. Pp. 331 362 in: Methods of Soil
Analysis (A. Klute, editor). Agronomy Monograph,
9. ASA and SSSA. Madison, Wisconsin, USA.