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Fig. 1.13b Intracrystalline swelling (after popescu, 1998)

The swelling behavior of unsaturated expansive clays are often treated using the concepts of strain energy coupled with Elasto-plastic models and by accounting the most important characteristic parameters of the unsaturated soils, “matric suction” (Yuan and Ju, 2013).

As a buffer and backfill material

There is another important application of unsaturated soil mechanics in geo-environmental engineering where the swelling characteristics of unsaturated soils are studied. Many countries are investing in the development of smart disposal facilities for high-level radioactive nuclear wastes. Compacted plastic clays, such as bentonites, are receiving a great attention of professionals, across the globe for their usage as sealing and barrier material in the repositories ( Fig. 1.14).