Stabilization of the swelling soil for earth construction

Abstract

This study is concerned with the method of cast earth as part of an investigation series on earth construction. The effect of two clay swelling inhibitors; polyethylene glycol [PEG] and of carboxymethyl cellulose [CMC] on the swelling of a clay-bearing soil are studied to enable the stabilization of the soil with CEM I 42.5 N. The soil composed of 14% clay, quartz, and calcite, is stabilized with 10% cement. 3% polycarboxylate superplasticizer is added relative to the mass of the cement, to gain the soil pourable properties. The results show that the PEG and CMC clay-swelling inhibitors reduce the expansion of the soil by ~30 and ~40% and lead to a maximum increase of 24 and 46% in the 90-day compressive strength respectively. The interactions between clay, cement, and swelling inhibitors are discussed. The findings allow advantageous applications for producing building units for construction purposes in desert areas.

Research on the Classification of Concrete Sulfate Erosion Types in Tumushuke Area, Xinjiang

“…The bands that occur at 1420, 874, and 710 cm −1 and are attributed to the asymmetric v3 and symmetric v2 and v4 of C-O allow one to identify the CO 2− 3 . The appearance of the C-O bands at 1465 and 874 cm −1 confirms the carbonation of the ettringite [36]. Figure 6 displays the results of infrared spectrogram tests conducted to further identify the kind of erosion products after the concrete specimens were submerged for 270 days at various sulfate concentrations.…”

Comparing the effects of jouravskite and ettringite on the hydration of the clinker

“…This band disappears with the supply of lime, and the formation of thaumasite. The formation of thaumasite is not accompanied by an expansion behavior like ettringite (31), but the surface of hardened cement systems exposed to sulphate separates and further layers deteriorate.…”