Abstract: There are a large number of cracks commonly distributed within expansive soil, which significantly affect the mechanical properties of the soil. To explore the influence of the crack penetration ratio on the creep properties of expansive soil, geomembranes are selected to simulate the internal cracks of the soil mass, and triaxial creep tests along unloading paths are carried out. The results show that cracks have a pronounced weakening effect on the strength of expansive soil. As the crack penetration rate increases, the failure deviator stress of the specimens shows a linear decreasing trend. During the unloading creep tests, under relatively low deviator stress, the creep curves exhibit the characteristics of attenuating creep and steady-state creep. With the increase in the deviator stress level, the creep curves start to display the characteristics of accelerating creep, and shear failure occurs within a short period of time, which results in relatively large axial deformation. During the creep process of expansive soil, the stress-strain isochronous curves show significant deviation gradually which transition from linear to nonlinear characteristics, and presenting obvious nonlinear characteristics. Before final failure of the specimens, the axial strain rates under deviatoric stresses at various levels gradually decrease from their initial values, and as the deviatoric stress increases, the initial creep rates at the corresponding levels show an increasing trend. Based on the isochronous curve method, the long-term strength value of expansive soil containing cracks is obtained. The results indicate that under long-term loads, the long-term strength of the soil mass is significantly reduced, which is approximately 54.5%-60.5% of the ultimate failure deviator stress. Based on the creep characteristics of expansive soil, an exponential creep empirical model is established, and the model fits the test results well. The fitting accuracy is above 0.97, indicating good applicability of the model. The results can provide valuable reference for the long-term stability problems of soil containing cracks.