Elevated curing temperature-associated strength and mechanisms of reactive MgO-activated industrial by-products solidified soils

Abstract

Alkali-activated industrial by-products (granulated blast furnace slag, Class F fly ash) by traditional alkali activator (such as NaOH and Na₂SiO₃) serves as a partial replacement for Portland cement in soil stabilization projects and suffers from environmental and technical problems. Reactive MgO – a greener and more practical alternative has recently emerged as a potential activator for slag and fly ash, but its micromechanisms of alkaline activation still need to be deeply investigated for strength improvement of soils. Hence, this study focuses on the strength and hydration properties of reactive MgO-slag and MgO-fly ash solidified soils, especially incorporating the impact of elevated curing temperature. Reactive MgO is proved to be excellent as a novel activator for activation of slag and fly ash, and their activating efficiency increases with elevated curing temperature that helps to remarkably enhance the compressive strength of soils. The major hydration products for reactive MgO-slag solidified soils, detected jointly by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric/differential thermogravimetric tests, are calcium silicate hydrate gels and hydrotalcite-like phases. The primary hydration products for MgO-fly ash solidified soils are magnesium silicate hydrate gels and Mg(OH)₂. That is just the intrinsic reason why the microstructure of solidified soils becomes much denser and the mechanical behavior is significantly improved. The minor carbonate phases such as magnesium carbonate and/or calcite are also observed in reactive MgO-slag and MgO-fly ash solidified soils, depending on the period of exposure to air. The curing temperature and binder amount are proved to be the two major factors governing the hydration process of reactive MgO-slag and MgO-fly ash blends. A higher curing temperature and binder amount can generate more hydration products, but their chemical compositions such as accurate element ratios need to be investigated in the future study.     

Application of flocculation combined with vacuum preloading to reduce river-dredged sludge

Abstract

To achieve the rapid dewatering of dredged sludge, the flocculation–vacuum-preloading method was tested indoors. In this study, the optimal mixing ratio of six flocculants was determined through the settling column test, and then the proposed method was tested. The water drainage and settlement were monitored during the test, while the soil moisture content and shear strength were measured after the test. The results show that all the flocculants had an optimal mixing ratio, and the addition of 0.8% FeCl₃ or 0.08% anionic polyacrylamide (APAM) in the sludge can better accelerate solid–liquid separation of the sludge. After the test, the water content in the sludge decreased from 140% to 60%. Compared with general vacuum preloading, the use of the proposed method increased the water drainage by 46.5% and 56.8% and decreased the soil volumes by 60.5% and 82.4% for FeCl₃ and APAM, respectively. Moreover, the corresponding shear strength was increased from 10 to 14 and 17?kPa. In addition, the use of APAM increased the solidification rate of heavy metals in the sludge to more than 80%, effectively inhibiting the migration of heavy metals.     

Long-Term Consolidation and Strength Behavior of Marine Clay Improved with Fly Ash

This paper presents an investigation of the long-term consolidation and strength behavior with fly ash as an additive in improving soft marine clay in Wando, Korea. 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 25% of the soil was replaced with fly ash. Consolidation tests were performed as incremental loaded tests. In addition, unconfined compressive strength were determined after 1, 14, 28 and 90 days. A series of forty-two long-term consolidation tests that lasted for 60 days under the constant loading were also conducted. Creep settlements of the blends decreased significantly with an increase in fly ash content. The shear strength properties increased with an increase in fly ash content. Statistical evaluation reveals an excellent correlation between the measured and predicted undrained shear strengths.     

Properties and performance of a high volume fly ash grout

Abstract

This study investigated the penetrability of high volume fly ash cement suspensions prepared with and without superplasticizer into sandy soil having different relative densities with 30%, 60%, 73%, and 83% through permeation grouting. Class C fly ash was used due to its pozzolanic activity and fineness. Due to engineering characteristics and cost, cementitious grouts are the most commonly used grout in both waterproofing and ground strengthening. Fly ash-cement grouts have relatively constant and low viscosity values for a reasonable period after preparation, exhibit limited or negligible bleed capacity and set and develop satisfactory strength within a relatively short period. Modeling of grouting of soil was done in laboratory and improvements in physical and mechanical properties of grouted soil were analyzed. Unconfined compressive strength, shear strength and permeability characteristics of grouted soil were studied as a result. Unconfined compressive strength values of grouted sand with high volume fly ash ranged between 410 and 1107?kPa. Morover, cohesion values were comparable to microfine cement grouting ranging from 373 to 511?kPa. Furthermore, permeability values were also approximately equal to the permeability of impervious liners, which is around 1?×?10^?7?cm/s. The findings support the applicability of grouting in different applications.     

Strength evaluation of marine clay stabilized by cementitious binder

Abstract

Evaluation of the strength of cement-treated clay with a broad range of mix ratios and curing periods was conducted using unconfined compression tests (UCTs). The influence of cement content, total water content, and curing period on the unconfined compressive strength of cemented clay are investigated. It is found that, at constant total water content, higher cement content results in higher unconfined compressive strength, while the total water content has an opposite effect. A power function can be used to correlate the unconfined compressive strength with the cement content or the total water content. For a fixed mix ratio, the unconfined compressive strength of cement-stabilized clay increases with the curing period, the effect of which can be characterized by a semi-log formula. Also, a strength-prediction model that considers both mix ratios and curing periods for cement-admixed marine clay is developed and validated; the model can capture the effect of clay type by considering the plastic index of untreated soils. It is also proved that the proposed framework for strength development is also applicable for other cement types.     

Laboratory and field test study on the improvement of marine clay slurry by in-situ solidification

Abstract

Soil solidification technology can create an artificial hard shell on a soft soil surface but the type and proportion of the curing agent, the construction technology, and the strengthening depth have large influences on the strengthening effect and engineering cost. This study introduces a new technology of soil solidification whereby an artificial hard shell layer is used as a new method to improve the soft ground. For the in-situ solidification technology, the soil and curing agent are mixed well by using a strong stirring machine so that the soil is strengthened rapidly and forms a hard crust. We introduce the key technology of the in-situ soil solidification method and determine the in-situ crust carrying capacity. The indoor experiment on the curing agent proportions is validated with field tests and a vane shear test, static penetration test, and plate loading test are used to evaluate the reinforcement effect. The experimental results show that the in-situ curing technology of dredged fill processing markedly reduced the reinforcement depth range of the soil water content, improved the physical and mechanical indices, and increased the bearing capacity and strength of the artificial hard shell layer, thereby fully meeting the requirements for the bearing capacity of construction machinery.     

Laboratory and Field Observations for Golden Horn Marine Clay

Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and one of the major metropolitan areas in the world, cleaned one of its environmentally polluted areas—Golden Horn—by dredging 5 million m³ of the bottom sediments and pumping the resulting sludge to a storage area behind a dam built at an abandoned rock quarry site in Alibey district. The reclamation of the land that formed over the storage area of Golden Horn dredged material is socially and economically very desirable. In this paper, results from experimental studies that are focused on determining the shear strength behavior of the dredge material and undisturbed soil are presented. Slurry consolidometer test, large model tests and small model tests are used to consolidate the dredged soil samples from Halic to simulate the natural consolidation behavior of these soils. Shear strength parameters are determined by laboratory vane tests; unconfined compression tests; undrained-unconsolidated (UU) and consolidated-undrained (CU) triaxial tests on samples that are obtained through in situ undisturbed samples and laboratory model tank and slurry consolidation. Moreover, the effects of fly ash and lime additives on the undrained shear strength were determined by mixing the materials with the dredged clay from Golden Horn during the model experiments conducted in the laboratory. Based on these findings, equations are proposed that govern the relationships between undrained shear strength and water content value.     

Discussion of “Shear Strength of an Accumulation Soil from Direct Shear Test” by J. Wang,H. Zhang,H. Wen,and Y. Liang

According to the article named “Shear Strength of an Accumulation Soil from Direct Shear Test” by J. Wang, H. Zhang, H. Wen, and Y. Liang, this paper proposes a more reasonable expression to characterize shear strength in the original paper. The angle of shearing resistance is expressed by the combination of initial and incremental angles of shearing resistance, the relative compactions and water content were used to analyze the effects. The initial and incremental angles of shearing resistance are generally increasing with the increment of the relative compaction, increasing then decreases with the increment of the water content. The finial expressions which combined by the series of simulation equation was given to precisely predict the accumulation soil's angle of shearing resistance in relation to the relative compactions and water content.     

Equivalent void ratio controlling the mechanical properties of cementitious material-clay mixtures with high water content

Abstract

This research develops a parameter defined as the equivalent void ratio, e?_st, which is able to accurately describe the dependence of the mechanical properties of cementitious material-clay mixtures on the influencing parameters, i.e., the mixing proportion, curing time, and initial state of the mixture, for different types of cementitious materials based on the results of unconfined compression, oedometer, and triaxial tests. Besides Portland cement, cementitious materials, such as fly ash and rice husk ash, are considered supplementary cement with different levels of efficiency. This equivalent cementitious material concept is then adapted for parameter development in conjunction with the effective void ratio proposed from our previous study. The developed single parameter, e?_st, can assess the mechanical properties of cementitious material-clay mixtures with different types of cementitious materials and under different test conditions.     

海洋环境下粉煤灰混凝土的抗冻性与抗氯离子渗透性的耦合

针对海洋环境条件,重点研究了粉煤灰混凝土的抗冻性和氯离子渗透性能的相互关系.试验分别研究了水胶比、粉煤灰等量取代水泥掺量大小、引气剂掺量等因素对抗冻性和抗氯离子渗透性能的影响,并与普通混凝土进行了对比.结果表明,粉煤灰不增加混凝土的抗海水冻融耐久性;粉煤灰增加混凝土的抗氯离子渗透性能,但是掺量超过30%,抗氯离子渗透性能下降;粉煤灰对混凝土抗冻性和抗氯离子渗透性的耦合影响在30%左右存在一个最佳掺量.为评估混凝土的抗冻性和氯离子扩散性的耦合性能,提出了新的评价方法--冻渗比(R值方法),并进行了试验验证.SEM和MIP微观分析与R值方法评价的结果是吻合的.     

Geotechnical Properties of Surface Sediments in the INDEX Area

Abstract

As a part of the environmental impact assessment studies, geotechnical properties of sediments were determined in the Central Indian Basin. The undrained shear strength and index properties of the siliceous sediments were determined on 20 box cores of uniform dimension collected from various locations in five preselected sites. The maximum core length encountered was 41 cm and most of the sediments were siliceous oozes consisting of radiolarian or diatomaceous tests. The shear strength measurements revealed that surface sediments deposited in recent times (0–10 cm) have a shear strength of 0–1 kPa; this value increases with depth, reaching 10 kPa at 40 cm deep. Older sediments have greater strength because of compaction. Water content varies in the wide range of 312–577% and decreases with depth. The clay minerals such as smectite and illite are dominant and show some control over water content. Wet density, specific gravity, and porosity do not indicate any notable variation with depth, thereby indicating a uniform, slow rate of sedimentation. The average porosity of sediments is 90.2%, specific gravity 2.18, and wet bulk density 1.12 g/cm³. Sediments exhibit medium to high plasticity characteristics, with the average plasticity index varying between 105% and 136%. Preliminary studies on postdisturbance samples showed an increase in natural water content and a decrease in undrained shear strength of sediments in the top 10- to 15-cm layer.     

Dynamic characteristics of marine soft clay under variable phase difference and initial static shear stress

Abstract

Under seismic loading, the soil layer is subjected to multidirectional cyclic shear stress with different amplitudes and frequencies because of the coupling of multiple shear waves and the soil element within a slope or behind a retaining wall is subjected to initial static shear stress before subjected to cyclic loading. Due to the complexity of seismic loading propagation, a phase difference exists between the initial static shear stress and cyclic shear stress. To investigate the influence of the phase difference and initial static shear stress on cyclic shear strain, cyclic modulus, and cyclic strength, a series of laboratory tests are performed on Wenzhou marine soft clay by multi-directional simple shear system, which can simulate the actual state better by controlling the horizontal cyclic stress in the x and y directions simultaneously. As the phase difference varies from 0° to 90°, the dynamic shear modulus increases and cyclic strain accumulation decreases with an increasing number of cycles. The shear strain increases with the initial shear stress.     

Study of the Shear Strength of Sediments in Main Sedimentation Stages

The shear strength properties of sediments are relevant to many practical problems, including those related to predicting the bearing capacity of the man-made crust lying over dredged disposal sites and those associated with estimating the erosion resistance and the bearing capacity of sediments. In this study, an experimental apparatus and method is developed for sedimentation. This apparatus consists of a settling column, pore measurement apparatus, shear vane apparatus, and multilayer extraction sampling apparatus. The change regulation of interface height, density, excess pore pressure, peak undrained shear strength, residual undrained shear strength, and sensitivity varies before and after the excess pore pressure dissipates to zero in the self-weight consolidation stage. The higher the water content, the greater the particle segregation degree. Particles are mainly segregated in the settling stage, and they are not segregated further in the self-weight consolidation stage. Before excess pore pressure dissipates to zero in the self-weight consolidation stage, shear strength is related to water content, effective stress, and the formed structure of sediments. After excess pore pressure dissipates to zero, peak undrained shear strength is mainly associated with the structure (thixotropy) of sediments. Residual undrained shear strength increases because of the slight decrease in water content. The mechanisms of thixotropy can be expressed as the increase in the original and curing cohesions of sediments with time as determined from microscopic aspects.     

Strength Sensitivity of Marine Ariake Clays

ABSTRACT

Natural Ariake clays are characterized by high sensitivity. In this study, the mechanism and the factors controlling undrained shear strengths of both undisturbed and remolded Ariake clays are discussed. A series of unconfined compressive tests were performed on undisturbed samples of natural Ariake clays. The remolded undrained shear strength is predicted using a quantitative expression derived from extensive data of remolded undrained shear strength for a number of soils compiled from resources in the literature. The sensitivity of natural Ariake clays derived from the ratio of half of unconfined compressive strength for undisturbed samples to remolded undrained shear strength is found to be affected by both natural water content and normalized water content that is defined as the ratio of natural water content to liquid limit. The smaller the natural water content, the higher the sensitivity is at the same normalized water content. At the same natural water content, the larger the normalized water content, the higher the sensitivity is.     

Numerical simulation of water content dependent undrained shear strength of clays

Abstract

A nonlinear mathematical model for estimating the water content dependent undrained shear strength of clayey soils was developed. Three types of clay mixtures (kaolinite, bentonite, and kaolinite-bentonite) were considered. The shear strength of the given soil samples was determined via torvane tests. Experimental results were compared with three numerical results: (i) the analytical function fit, (ii) modeling without the water content effect, and (iii) modeling with the water content effect using the Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) model. There was good agreement among the experimental, analytical, and numerical results with and without the water content effect in the fully softening zone. However, there was a large difference between the numerical results obtained from the developed model with and without the water content effect in the flow zone with a high liquidity index, because the shear strength may decrease significantly to low value in the case of an abrupt increase of the water content. The greatest advantage of the developed model is that it can simulate the reduction of the shear strength and shear band development under the high water content condition, which may trigger a large mobile mass movement.     

Mechanical properties of calcareous silts in a hydraulic fill island-reef

Abstract

The mechanical characteristics of calcareous silt interlayers play an important role in the stability of island-reef foundations. Direct shear and consolidation tests were performed to study the relationship between the mechanical properties and the physical parameters of calcareous silt. Based on the consolidation test results and analysis of the settling examples, different calculation methods for soil settling were compared. The results show the following. (1) The relationship between the cohesion and water content of calcareous silt can be represented by an M-shaped curve. The water contents corresponding to the two peaks of the M-type curve increase with increasing dry density. (2) When the dry density is less than 1.33?g/cm³, increasing the density significantly improves the internal friction angle of calcareous silts. When the dry density of the calcareous silt is greater than 1.33?g/cm³, the internal friction angle is affected by both the dry density and the water content. (3) The shear strength decreases when the water content exceeds the optimum level. (4) The compressive modulus of calcareous silt is larger than that of terrigenous silt. Specifically, it decreases with decreasing dry density and increasing water content. (5) The stepwise loading method should be used to estimate the soil settling before fill engineering construction.     

现代黄河三角洲沉积物临界剪切应力研究

为研究现代黄河三角洲沉积物临界剪切应力空间分布特征及其影响要素,本文在现代黄河三角洲不同沉积区域,垂直海岸线布设测线,采用黏结力仪进行沉积物临界剪切应力测试,并在相应测点开展沉积物物理力学性质与粒度成分测量工作。研究结果表明高潮滩沉积物临界剪切应力最高,在1.1~4.02Pa之间,沉积物不易发生侵蚀,含水量低、干容重大、黏粒与粉粒含量高、平均粒径小、不排水剪切强度大是高潮滩沉积物临界剪切应力偏高的重要因素;中潮滩沉积物受生物活动影响显著,临界剪切应力在0.10~1.90Pa之间,生物活动扰动、生物排泄及遗体遗迹的程度与数量是造成不同区域测试差异的重要原因;低潮滩沉积物临界剪切应力很低,在0.08~0.80Pa之间,沉积物极易发生侵蚀,含水量高、干容重偏低、砂砾含量高、平均粒径大、不排水剪切强度小是其典型的沉积物物理力学性质,也是造成低潮滩沉积物临界剪切应力普遍低于高潮滩的重要原因;现代黄河三角洲沉积物临界剪切应力区域特征表现为北部沉积物临界剪切应力水平最低,在0.11~0.4Pa之间,东部最高,在2.8~4.55Pa之间,南部与东北部居中,分别在0.63~0.84Pa与0.83~2.99Pa之间,东北部空间非均匀性分布显著,粒度组分的分异是导致沉积物临界剪切应力区域差异显著的重要因素,黏粒含量高的沉积区域沉积物临界剪切应力普遍高于砂砾含量高的沉积区;与世界其他大型河口三角洲相比,现代黄河三角洲沉积物临界剪切应力水平偏低但非均匀程度较高。     

Comparison between reactive MgO- and Na2SO4-activated low-calcium fly ash-solidified soils dredged from East Lake,China

Abstract

A novel approach to mitigate the environmental concerns associated with cement industry is to replace Portland cement with low carbon alternative materials such as fly ash-based geopolymer cement. Hence, reactive MgO-activated low-calcium Class F fly ash was employed in comparison to Na₂SO₄-activated fly ash to stabilize a lacustrine soil reused potentially in soft coastal reclamation projects and as reinforced aggregates for anti-corrosion in marine engineering. The microstructural and strength properties were investigated with series of tests including X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry/differential thermogravimetry (TG/DTG), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and unconfined compressive strength (UCS). The results demonstrate that the main hydration products in reactive MgO- and Na₂SO₄-fly ash-solidified soils are, respectively, magnesium silicate hydrate (M-S-H) gel and sodium aluminosilicate hydrate (N-A-S-H) gel. This finding is reconfirmed by the weight loss of solidified samples at 40–200?°C, which is correspondingly attributed to the dehydration of magnesium silicate hydrate (M-S-H) gel and sodium aluminosilicate hydrate (N-A-S-H) gel. The morphology and bonding ability of hydration products affects the microstructure and long-term strength of solidified soils. The microstructural change identified from SEM images coincides well with the quantitative evolution of pore structure. The pores with radius of 0.01–1?µm, i.e., micropore and mesopore, are supposed to be the dominant pores in reactive MgO- and Na₂SO₄-activated fly ash-solidified soils. The comparison of UCS indicates reactive MgO-activated low-Ca fly ash behaves much superior to Na₂SO₄-activated fly ash in enhancing the long-term compressive strength of soils. This study provides insight into the promising potential of low-Ca fly ash activated by immerging material – reactive MgO to replace cement in soil improvement.     

Shear behavior of geotextile-reinforced Chlef sand in the Mediterranean region: Laboratory investigation

Abstract

An experimental study about the effects of initial conditions of soil and geotextile reinforcement on the mechanical behavior of reinforced sand is presented in this paper. A series of direct shear tests are conducted on reconstituted specimens of dry and moist natural sand prepared with different initial water content (w?=?0, 1.5, 3, and 5%) and including the two arrangements of geotextile layers (one and two layers, respectively). Both S41 and PEC55types of non-woven geotextile were used and placed at different heights of the specimens to investigate the effect of geotextile reinforcement on the behavior of sand. Test specimens were prepared at Dr =80% of relative density and were subjected to three different normal stresses of 100, 200, and 300?kPa. The experimental results showed that the deposition mode (wet and dry) and the geotextile reinforcement have significant effects on the behavior of reinforced sand. The increase in shear strength is relatively more significant for specimens prepared with dry deposition mode as compared to those prepared with wet deposition mode and it increases with the number of geotextile layers, this effect becomes less significant for wet specimens. The experimental results also demonstrated that (PEC55) non-woven geotextile shows a better performance than the (S41) of geotextile. These results can be explained by the effective tensile strength property of polyester yarns of the (PEC55) non-woven geotextile that it has led to a significant increase in the shear strength.     

Effect of salt on strength development of marine soft clay stabilized with cement-based composites

Abstract

Marine soft clay with a high salt concentration is widely distributed in coastal areas. In this study, cement-based composites consisting of cement, silica fume, plant ash and NaOH were used as a substitute for ordinary Portland cement, and the effect of salt (sodium chloride) on the strength development of clay was investigated by unconfined compressive strength (UCS) testing and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). With the addition of sodium chloride (NaCl), the amount of cementitious materials decreased, and the salt (sodium chloride) was considered to consume the cement-based composites. The consumption effect could be quantitatively evaluated by the consumption index of salt (CIS) and the clay-water/cement ratio hypothesis. The relationship between the CIS and curing period and an UCS prediction model of clay stabilized with cement-based composites with different salt contents and curing times were established. The CIS gradually decreased with increasing curing time and cement-based composites content. The accuracy of the prediction model was evaluated by a comparative analysis between the measured strengths and predicted strengths; the deviation was mostly within 10%. SEM analyses were employed to describe the changes in the microstructure of the specimens and the influencing mechanism of salt on clay stabilized with cement-based composites.