Evaluation of Strength Properties of Sand Modified with Organic Polymers

Abstract

Due to weak physical properties of sand, chemical reinforcement methods are widely used to improve sand properties to meet the engineering requirements. However, most of the traditional additives cause environmental problems. Therefore, non-traditional additives such as liquid polymers, enzymes, ions, and lignin derivatives have been studied extensively. In this study, organic polymer is used as a soil stabilizer to reinforce the sand. To evaluate the effectiveness of the organic polymer as soil stabilizer, a series of unconfined compression strength (UCS) tests, direct shear tests, and tensile tests were carried out on reinforced sand with different polymer concentrations and dry densities of sand. The reinforcement mechanism was analysed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The results indicated that the polymer concentration and dry density of sand had significant effects on the strength characteristics of reinforced sand specimens. The unconfined compressive strength, cohesion, and tensile strength of specimens with the same dry density increased with the increasing polymer concentration. The polymer membranes-formed by the mixture of polymer and water-enwrap the sand particles and interlink them to form a stable structure. The efficiency of this stabilization changed with dry sand density.

Chemical Sand Consolidation: From Polymers to Nanoparticles

“…They reported that the compressive strength after the application was 161-600 psi, while the permeability to original was 80% at 60 • C, [100]. Liu et al [24,101] used poly-oxypropylene diol, poly-oxyethylene glycol, poly-caprolaclone glycol, and toluene to consolidate an unconsolidated sand formation, Table 19. They disclosed that the shear strength cohesion values for 50% polymer with densities of 1.40, 1.50 and 1.60 g/cm 2 were 120.19, 140.28, and 204.22 kPa respectively, [24,101].…”

“…Liu et al [24,101] used poly-oxypropylene diol, poly-oxyethylene glycol, poly-caprolaclone glycol, and toluene to consolidate an unconsolidated sand formation, Table 19. They disclosed that the shear strength cohesion values for 50% polymer with densities of 1.40, 1.50 and 1.60 g/cm 2 were 120.19, 140.28, and 204.22 kPa respectively, [24,101]. Some pros and cons of polyurethane resins methods, as reported in the literature and summarized in Table 20.…”

Improvement of Water Stability of Sand Admixed with Water-Soluble Organic Polymer

“…The constitutional formula of PU used in this study is shown in Figure 1(a), which was synthetized based on five main stages including atmospheric distillation, vacuum distillation, cooling, heating, and cooling, as shown in Figure 1(b). This synthesis method follows Liu [29] and Liu et al [30].…”

Laboratory and Field Experiments on the Effect of Vinyl Acetate Polymer-Reinforced Soil

“…The concentrations of the polymer were 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% (S9, S10, S11 and S12) in the test. After the specimen preparation, the specimens were cured at 20 • C for 24 h. In the test, the YYW-2 unconfined compressional strain control device (Nanjing Nantu Instrument Equipment Co. Ltd., Nanjing, China) was used, and the controlling strain rate was 2.4 mm/min [27]. The test was based on the ASTM standard (ASTM D2166-00).…”