In order to explore the tensile strength and the evolution of fracture characteristics of expansive soil, this study aims to provide a comprehensive description of tensile failure characteristics. The applicability of Brazilian splitting test in the determination of tensile strength of expansive soil samples was verified by experiments. Building upon this, effects of dry density and water content on tensile strength and energy evolution during the loading of expansive soil samples were systematically discussed . The results showed that the Brazilian splitting test was suitable for remodeled expansive soil samples within the test range. The tensile strength of soil decreased with the increase of water content, and the reduction is more significant with higher dry density. Besides, the tensile strength increased with the increase of initial dry density, and the increment became smaller with higher water content. The fracture energy of expansive soil samples has a similar trend to the tensile strength, but there is a “critical water content” at which the fracture energy showed an approximate bi-linear decrease with increasing water content. Moreover, the “critical water content” increased with the initial dry density of the samples. The research results have extended the application scope of the Brazilian splitting test and provided engineering insights on using energy index as the auxiliary measures for assessing of soil resistance to destruction.