Influence of soil properties and drying conditions on the soil surface cracking intensity factor (CIF)

The file contains a dataset used to analyze the influence of soil properties and drying conditions on soil cracking. It includes 58 own records and 203 records obtained from the literature. Carefully documented studies were used, characterized by the most complete possible set of experimental data. The parameters were determined according to different testing standards adopted in the cited publications. The listed literature sources constitute the most important available works documenting the relationship between soil moisture and the intensity of surface cracking, expressed using the CIF index. All collected cases contain information regarding soil properties, specimen dimensions, and drying conditions. The information included in the dataset: specific gravity [g/cm3], sand content [%], silt content [%], clay content [%], liquid limit [%], plastic limit [%], shrinkage limit [%], plasticity limit [%], USCS classification [-], montmorillonite content in clay fraction [%], specimen height [cm], specimen shape (1-square; 2-circle), surface area [cm2], drying temperature [C], relative humidity of air [%] sample moisture [%], crack intensity factor CIF [%]. The dataset was used to identify the most significant factors affecting crack intensity and to develop an algorithm for predicting crack intensity using the random forest method. The research results were published in:P. Wyborski, “Assessment of the impact of soil characteristics on crack formation and their prediction using machine learning,” MATERIAŁY BUDOWLANE, vol. 1, no. 9, 2025, doi: 10.15199/33.2025.09.21.