The swell-shrinking mineral of saturated and unsaturated expansive soil has important effect on engineering mechanical behavior. Based on the swelling-shrinkage change regularity of montmorillonite crystal in this paper, the actions between various interlayers of montmorillonite crystal are generally summarized as two kinds of action potentials-shrinkage potential and swelling potential, Moreover, through the experimental research and analysis, the expression formula for variations of the swelling potential and shrinkage potential with interlayer distance is presented, and the regularity of matric suction variations with interlayer distance is also obtained for unsaturated expansive soil. It may provide a new theoretical basis and research path for further research on the swelling-shrinkage mechanism of expansive soil and matric suction potential of unsaturated soil.