Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Accepted manuscript
As a service to our authors and readers, we are putting peer-reviewed accepted manuscripts
(AM) online, in the Ahead of Print section of each journal web page, shortly after acceptance.
Disclaimer
The AM is yet to be copyedited and formatted in journal house style but can still be read and
referenced by quoting its unique reference number, the digital object identifier (DOI). Once
the AM has been typeset, an ‘uncorrected proof’ PDF will replace the ‘accepted manuscript’
PDF. These formatted articles may still be corrected by the authors. During the Production
process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers
that apply to the journal relate to these versions also.
Version of record
The final edited article will be published in PDF and HTML and will contain all author
corrections and is considered the version of record. Authors wishing to reference an article
published Ahead of Print should quote its DOI. When an issue becomes available, queuing
Ahead of Print articles will move to that issue’s Table of Contents. When the article is
published in a journal issue, the full reference should be cited in addition to the DOI.
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Submitted: 03 December 2018
Published online in ‘accepted manuscript’ format: 10 May 2019
Manuscript title: Behaviour of silty sands stabilised with cement subjected to hard
environmental conditions
Authors: Nilo Cesar Consoli1, Mariana S. Carretta
1, Helena B. Leon
1, Maria Eduarda B.
Schneider1, Naiara C. Reginato
1 and J. Antônio H. Carraro
2
Affiliations: 1Graduate Programme in Civil Engineering, Universidade Federal do Rio
Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil and 2Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
Corresponding author: Nilo Cesar Consoli, Graduate Programme in Civil Engineering,
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
E-mail: [email protected]
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Abstract
The present study evaluates the effect of three distinct amounts of fines, Portland cement and dry unit weights
on the accumulated loss of mass (ALM), maximum shear modulus at small strains (G0) and tensile strength (qt)
of stabilised sands subjected to wet-dry cycles. Tensile strength test results showed that addition of fines to a
sand stabilised with cement increased its tensile strength, irrespective of the dry unit weight (d) and cement
amount present in the mixture. Increasing the amounts of fines of compacted cement-stabilised silty sand
specimens subjected to wetting-drying cycles reduces ALM and increases G0 and qt of the mixtures. This may be
due to the fact that specimens with larger amounts of fines have more contact points amongst particles, which
provides better opportunities for the cement to develop more efficient bonds within the soil fabric, improving its
mechanical performance. The increase in cement content and in d of compacted cement-stabilized silty sand
specimens reduced their ALM and increased G0 after each one of the twelve wet-dry cycles. The G0 and qt of
cement-stabilized silty sand specimens with fines increases up to the sixth cycle, remaining practically constant
after that, when these specimens are subjected to wetting-drying cycles.
Keywords: Strength & testing of materials; geotechnical engineering; granular materials; nonplastic fines; soil
stabilization; Portland cement; stiffness; tensile strength; hard environmental conditions
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
INTRODUCTION
A dense layer of sandy soil stabilized with Portland cement superimposing weak soils
is a widespread technique used to enhance the bearing capacity of spread footings. Similar
approaches are used to improve base/subbase layers in pavements or the foundation layers for
pipelines. In these applications, failure typically starts with the development of tensile strains
at the bottom of the improved layer (Consoli et al. 2008; Consoli et al. 2009; Dormon and
Metcalf 1965). To understand the variation of durability, small-strain shear stiffness and
tensile strength of sandy soils stabilized with early-strength Portland cement exposed to hard
environmental conditions (through the use of wet-dry cycles), the assessment of their long-
term performance is required. However, previous studies have mainly focused on clayey
soils. These studies have tried to assess whether the improvements caused by Portland
cement/lime stabilization could be undermined by exposure to hard environmental conditions
such as those imparted by freezing-thawing (Consoli et al. 2017) or water circulation (Le
Runigo et al. 2009). The advantages of lime/cement stabilization of clayey soils have been
shown to be partially lost when the stabilized soil is exposed to hard environmental
conditions (Chittoori 2008; Stoltz et al. 2014; Consoli et al. 2018; Chittoori et al. 2018).
Thus, it is critical to understand the role of consecutive dry-wet cycles and their probable
influence on the behaviour of sandy soils stabilized with Portland cement. Another variable
that has been shown to be important in sandy soils is the content of fines. Carraro et al.
(2009) tested various mixtures of sands with either plastic or non-plastic fines and showed
that all aspects of the mechanical behaviour investigated in their study are affected by the
amount of the fines present in the sand. They found that the addition of nonplastic silt to the
host sand increases both the peak and critical state friction angles. Besides, G0 is affected
(reduced) by the amount of fines. Phan et al. (2016) studied the influence of low plasticity
fines content on sand-fines specimens at a given relative density and found out that as fines
content increase the internal friction angle decreases and the cohesion intercept increases.
Regarding liquefaction of sandy soils, Wang and Wang (2010) have shown that for a constant
dry density, the increase of fines content in a sand up to 30% decreases soil liquefaction
resistance with increasing fines content. Esseler-Bayat et al. (2017) have also shown that
clean sand specimens have higher liquefaction resistance compared with that of sands with up
to 10% of fines content. Looking at the effect of fines content in stabilised sands, Hataf and
Jamali (2018) have found that considerable increase in cohesion intercept of stabilized soils
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
can be achieved for sand specimens with up to 10% fines content.
The present study systematically evaluates the effect of fines content (10, 20 and
30%), Portland cement content (5, 8 and 11%) and dry unit weight (14.5, 15.5 and 14.5
kN/m3) on the accumulated loss of mass (ALM), maximum shear modulus at small strains
(G0) and tensile strength (qt) of compacted sandy soils stabilized with an early-strength
Portland cement subjected to wet-dry cycles to emulate exposure to hard environmental
conditions.
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Materials
High early strength Portland cement – PC III (ASTM 2016) was used in this study to
stabilize three nonplastic silty sands. The nonplastic silty sands were obtained by adding three
distinct amounts of nonplastic fines (10, 20 or 30%) to Osório sand. Osório sand is a uniform
fine silica sand with rounded particles and specific gravity equal to 2.63. A mineralogical
analysis conducted on the sample suggests that quartz is the predominant constituent present
in the sand particles. Osório sand is classified as SP according to the Unified Soil
Classification System (ASTM 2017a). Rice husk ash obtained from a rice company that
incinerates rice husk for power generation was used as fines. The specific gravity of rice husk
ash is 2.20. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) performed on rice-husk ash shows the presence
of cristobalite (SiO2) as the dominant mineral. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) tests revealed that
the studied ash is mainly composed of SiO2 (91%). Rice husk ash is classified as ML (ASTM
2017a). The particle size distributions of all materials tested are presented in Figure 1. Their
physical properties such as specific gravity (Gs), mean particle size (D50), etc., are
summarized in Table 1. According to the Unified Soil Classification System, mixtures of
Osório sand with 10, 20 or 30% of rice husk ash are classified as silty sands (SM). The
specific gravity of the Portland cement grains is 3.15. Distilled water was employed in all
stages of the testing program.
Specimen Preparation and Curing
Sample preparation started by dry mixing the sand with the required amount of Portland
cement until mixture homogeneity was visually observed. For all mixtures tested, the mass of
cement (mc) used was determined based on the target cement content (C) and the dry mass of
soil (ms) required to prepare each specimen so that C = mc / (mc + ms). Distilled water was
then added to the mixture until mixture uniformity was achieved. Each specimen was
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
statically compressed in three layers inside a cylindrical mould. Sample mixing and specimen
preparation was completed in less than an hour. Specimen diameter, length and mass were
determined immediately after the specimen was removed from the mould. Prior to any of the
testing procedures that will be described next, all specimens were cured for seven days inside
a room with humidity- and temperature-control at 95% and 22º±2ºC. Cylindrical specimens
with diameter and height equal to 50 and 100 mm, respectively, were used in the splitting
tensile strength testing program. Changes in durability and small strain stiffness of specimens
subjected to wetting-drying cycles were assessed on specimens with diameter and height
equal to 100 and 127 mm, respectively (ASTM 2015).
Splitting Tensile Strength Tests
Sandy soil-cement layers used as pavement base layer or as a stabilized base for spread
footings usually collapse once the tensile strength at the bottom of the stabilized layer is
reached (Dormon and Metcalf 1965; Consoli et al. 2011). As a result, splitting tensile
strength tests have been conveniently used to demonstrate the efficiency of Portland cement
stabilization for sandy soils. In this study, splitting tensile strength tests were conducted in
accordance to ASTM (2017b) using a 10-kN loading cell with resolution of 0.005-kN. All
splitting tensile strength test specimens were submerged in water for 24 hours before testing
to minimize suction effects. If suction is not reduced to smallest possible values (preferably
zero), it may have an undesirable strong impact on tensile strength.
This testing program was specifically developed to evaluate the effects of the porosity-
cement ratio (by systematically varying the dry unit weight and Portland cement content of
the specimens) and number of wet-dry cycles on the tensile strength of the three artificially
cemented silty sands tested. The target compaction parameters used for specimen preparation
were selected based on the standard Proctor compaction curve of the silty sand containing
10% of fines (Figure 2). As shown in Fig. 2, three target dry unit weight (d) levels of 16.5,
15.5 and 14.5 kN/m3 and a single target water content of 14 % were selected and used to
prepare the test specimens. These three target compaction levels were also adopted for the
other two percentages of Portland cement used (5 and 11%) leading to a total of 27
combinations among soil type, amount of cement and dry unit weights used.
Durability Tests Due to Wetting-Drying Cycles
Durability tests following wetting and drying cycles were carried out following ASTM
(2015) on all mixtures of nonplastic silty sands stabilized with Portland cement tested in this
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
study. This allowed assessment of the loss of mass of specimens due to the repeated (twelve)
wet-dry cycles followed by brushing strokes. Each cycle starts by oven drying the specimen
for 42 h at 71o±2
oC. Next, the specimens are brushed several times by applying a force of
13.3-N. At the end of each cycle, specimens are submerged in water for 5 h at 23o±2
oC.
In this testing program, the target variables used to prepare the specimens were similar
to the variables used for the splitting tensile strength tests (i.e., sandy soil type, cement
content, dry unit weight and water content). However, a reduced number of levels were used,
as summarized in Table 2, leading to a total of 6 combinations among soil type, amount of
cement and dry unit weight. Two specimens were prepared for each combination tested. The
first specimen was submitted to the regular brushing stroke procedure whereas the second
specimen (not brushed) was used to obtain the maximum shear modulus at small strains (G0)
through pulse velocity testing, as described next.
In addition to the specimens subjected to regular durability tests, a few well-performing
specimens of silty sands containing either 10 or 30 % of fines stabilized with the highest
Portland cement content (11 %) and dry unit weight (16.5 kN/m3) used in this study were also
prepared. These were subjected to additional splitting tensile strength tests after being
exposed to zero, 6 and 12 wetting-drying cycles carried out using the regular durability
testing protocol, except by the brushing stage, which was not carried out in such specimens.
Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Tests
The measurement of ultrasonic pulse velocity followed ASTM (2008) and was used to
assess the maximum shear modulus at small strains (G0) for the second set of (unbrushed)
specimens prepared for the 10 combinations of testing variables used in the regular durability
tests, as described above. These measurements were carried out before the first cycle and
after cycles 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12.
RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
Tensile Strength
Figure 3a shows the variation of the splitting tensile strength (qt) as a function of the
porosity-cement index (/Civ), expressed as porosity () divided by the volumetric cement
content (Civ), the latter expressed as a percentage of cement volume regarding total volume,
which is raised to the adjusted exponent of 0.28 (Consoli et al. 2007, 2016) for fitting
purposes. Best-fit trendlines presented in Equations 1, 2 and 3 are also plotted in Fig. 3a,
which yield coefficients of determinations (R2) of 0.87, 0.89 and 0.83 for sands with 10, 20
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
and 30% fines, respectively. The experimental data shown in Fig. 3(a) includes
measurements obtained for the three silty sands stabilized with Portland cement after 7 days
of curing. For each silty sand dataset shown in Fig. 3, the corresponding trendline fits data
that includes all three Portland cement contents (5, 8 and 11%) and dry unit weights (14.5,
15.5 and 16.5 kN/m3) used in the experiments.
( ) [
( ) ]
(1)
( ) [
( ) ]
(2)
( ) [
( ) ]
(3)
A possible expression to specify the general relationship between qt and the
porosity/cement index for sandy soils stabilized with Portland cement was proposed by
Consoli et al. (2011) as stated in Eq. (4).
[
( ) ]
(4)
where Y, Z and D are empirical scalar parameters that must be determined experimentally for
a given stabilized sand.
In an attempt to provide physical significance to the existing empirical database,
Diambra et al. (2018) proposed a theoretical model based on the concept of superposition of
the failure strength contributions of the sand and cement phases to establish a link between
the inherent properties of sandy soil and Portland cement grains and the empirical
coefficients of Eq. (4). In summary, their analysis yields
[
( ) ⁄]
(5)
where k and b are also empirical scalar parameters that need to be determined for a given
stabilized soil mixture. By comparing the empirical and theoretically-derived Equations (4)
and (5), respectively, it becomes apparent that Z(=b) and D(=1/b) are not independent
parameters. Thus, if D=0.28 is used (e.g. Consoli et al. 2007, 2016), then b must be equal to
3.57, which is similar to the empirical value of 3.60 derived from the experiments and used to
fit Equations (1) to (3).
Alternatively, Eq. (5) may be simply re-written as
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
(6)
If no attempt is made to optimize the fitting between the experimental data and Eq. (6),
resulting in ( ⁄ ), it can be seen from Fig. 3b that the use of the reciprocal of the
porosity-cement index as the independent variable already leads to coefficients of
determination above 0.70. This may have several advantages. First, the tensile strength is
shown to be directly proportional to the volumetric cement content and inversely proportional
to the porosity of the mixtures, as expected. Secondly, the resulting expression is simple and
requires evaluation of a single empirical parameter (K). The physical meaning of this single
empirical parameter K requires further analysis and additional knowledge of inherent fabric
characteristics of the mixtures tested, which are outside the scope of the present manuscript.
However, the existing data clearly shows that K has a strong correlation and linearly
increases with the amount of fines present in the mixtures tested (Figure 4). Other fabric
characteristics such as the coordination number (Z) (Thornton 2000) may be related to K as
well, but this is out of the scope of the present study, as mentioned above, and will need to be
verified in future studies. Nevertheless, an increase of the nonplastic fines content of the
sands tested from 10 to 20% and from 10 to 30% increased the tensile strength of the cement-
treated silty sands by about 28 and 60%, respectively, irrespective of the amount of cement
and dry unit weight present in the mixture. A possible reason for the increase in qt with
increasing fines content is that specimens with larger amounts of fines have more contacts
points among particles (or higher coordination number). This allows better opportunity for
the Portland cement to develop more efficient bonds, increasing the tensile strength of the
mixture, as suggested by Chang and Woods (1992).
Durability
Figure 5(a) shows the variation of the accumulated loss of mass (ALM) with the number
of wet-dry cycles for compacted sands with 10, 20 and 30% of fines stabilized with 11%
Portland cement. All specimens shown in this figure were compacted with d of 16.5 kN/m3.
Increasing the amount of fines in the compacted sandy soil-cement mixture reduces the ALM
of the specimen after each one of the twelve wet-dry cycles [Fig. 5(a)]. The reason for the
reduction in ALM with the increase in the amount of fines is that the fabric of the specimens
with greater amounts of fines has a larger number of particle contacts. This provides better
opportunities for particle bonding following Portland cement hydration (Chang and Woods
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
1992), increasing mixture durability. In Figure 5(b) the variation of ALM with the number of
cycles is presented for the sand containing 30% of fines stabilized with 5, 8 and 11% Portland
cement and compacted with d of 16.5 kN/m3. Increasing the cement content of the
compacted sandy soil-cement mixtures reduces the ALM of the specimen after each one of the
twelve wet-dry cycles. Increasing the Portland cement content of the mixture leads to the
development of stronger cementitious bonds among the soil particles, thus reducing the ALM
of the specimens. Finally, Figure 5(c) shows that increasing the compacted dry unit weight of
the sand with 30% of fines stabilized with 11% of Portland cement from 15.5 to 16.5 kN/m3
reduces the ALM of specimens by about half. The larger the d, the smaller the porosity, thus
increasing the coordination number and potential for more effective bonding at the same
cement content.
Maximum Shear Modulus at Small Strains
The overall variation of the maximum shear modulus at small strains (G0) with the
number of wet-dry cycles is presented in Fig. 6. As these measurements were carried out on
the second set of (unbrushed) specimens, as described earlier in the experimental program,
Figs. 6(a), 6(b) and 6(c) refer to the same set of testing conditions discussed for Figures 5(a),
5(b) and 5(c) (i.e., analyses of the effects of fines content, cement content and dry unit
weight, respectively). Thus, these figures may be thought as mirror images of the trends
shown in Fig. 5, if the plots are flipped around the horizontal axis (i.e., the same factors that
would lead to an increase in ALM should cause a decrease in G0). Fig. 6(a) shows that
increasing the amount of fines of the compacted sandy soil-cement mixture increases G0 after
each one of the twelve wet-dry cycles. As discussed earlier, this increase in stiffness is due to
the higher coordination number (or number of particle contacts), which provides better
opportunity for bonding development following Portland cement hydration (Chang and
Woods 1992). Interestingly, for the mixture containing only 10% of fines, G0 increases only
up to the end of the first cycle, remaining constant afterwards. Conversely, the G0 of mixtures
containing 20 and 30% of fines continue to increase up to about the end of the sixth cycle,
remaining constant after that. A possible reason for this is that, for higher fines contents,
pozzolanic reactions amongst the Ca++
freed during Portland cement hydration and the excess
fines present in the mixture continues to occur up to a longer period (number of cycles). This
may also be due to the more effective bonding that can develop in sands containing fines with
higher coordination number/fines content as a result of the more efficiently packed fabric that
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
arises as the threshold fines content (Kuerbis et al. 1988) is approached. Figure 6(b) is
equivalent to Fig. 5(b) in that the effect of Portland cement content is accounted for the silty
sand with 30% of fines compacted with d of 16.5 kN/m3. Increasing the cement content of
the compacted silty sand proportionally increases G0 of the specimens after each one of the
twelve wet-dry cycles. The reason for this is that higher amounts of Portland cement develop
more bonds. However, G0 increases stop after the first, third and sixth wet-dry cycles for
cement contents equal to 5, 8 and 11%, respectively. Lastly, Figure 6(c) shows that for the
same compacted silty sand with 30% of fines, an increase in d from 15.5 to 16.5 kN/m3
increases G0 by about 50%. This is due to the lower porosity and higher coordination number
(thus particle contacts), which allow the Portland cement to develop more efficient bonds
(Chang and Woods 1992), as discussed earlier.
Post-Durability Tensile Strength
The variation of qt with the number of wet-dry cycles for select specimens of
compacted (d of 16.5 kN/m3) silty sands with 10 and 30 % of fines stabilized with 11%
Portland cement is presented in Fig. 7. Increasing the amount of fines from 10 to 30% for
these stabilized silty sands increases qt of the specimens tested after zero, six and twelve wet-
dry cycles. Similarly, to previous observations, the higher coordination number (i.e., particle
contacts) and the larger amount of fines present in the silty sand with 30% fines favourably
increase its qt, as shown by Chang and Woods (1992) through SEM microscopy on various
cemented sands. Oven-drying for 42 hours at 71o±2
oC throughout the drying stages of the
wetting-drying cycles may also help accelerate the chemical reactions induced by the
Portland cement increasing qt of the compacted silty sands with 10 and 30% of fines in early
cycles. Subsequent cycles (after 6th
) do not seem to continue to affect qt (Fig. 7), which is
consistent with stiffness trends shown in Fig. 6(a).
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the results of the present study, the following conclusions can be made:
Increasing the nonplastic fines content of the sands tested from 10 to 20% and from 10 to
30% increased the tensile strength of the cement-treated silty sands by about 28 and 60%,
respectively, irrespective of the cement content and dry unit weight of the mixture. This
might be due to the fact that specimens with larger amounts of fines have more contact
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
points amongst particles (i.e., higher coordination number), thus providing better
opportunities for the Portland cement to develop more efficient bonds;
The relationship [
( ) ]
is valid for all of the compacted cement-stabilized
silty sands tested (with fines content ranging from 10 to 30%), where the scalar k is
proportional to the fines content of the sand; a simpler, more fundamental form of this
relationship was shown to be equal to qt=K (Civ ⁄η), where K is directly related to the fines
content and/or coordination number of the mixture;
Increasing the fines content (from 10 to 30%) of the compacted cement-stabilized silty
sand specimens subjected to twelve wet-dry cycles reduced ALM and increased G0 and qt
of the sands;
The increase in cement content (from 5 to 11%) and d of the compacted cement-
stabilized silty sands proportionally decreased the ALM and increased the G0 of the
specimens after each one of the twelve wet-dry cycles;
When subjected to wetting-drying cycles, the G0 and qt of cement-stabilized silty sands
with 10 to 30% of fines increased up to the sixth cycle, remaining practically constant
after that;
Addition of rice husk ash fines to a uniform clean silica sand improved the overall
performance of the resulting Portland cement-stabilized silty sands subjected to hard
environmental conditions.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank to PRONEX FAPERGS/CNPq (16/2551-0000469-2), CAPES-
PROEX and CNPq (INCT-REAGEO, Universal and Produtividade em Pesquisa) for funding
the research group.
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
NOTATIONS
ALM accumulated loss of mass (sum of dry mass lost due to brushing up to a certain cycle divided by
the initial mass of the specimen)
Cc coefficient of curvature
Civ volumetric cement content (cement volume divided by the total volume of specimen)
Cu coefficient of uniformity
D10 equivalent particle diameter (at which 10% of the material weight is finer)
D30 particle diameter at which 30% of the material weight is finer
D50 mean particle diameter (at which 50% of the material weight is finer)
D60 particle diameter at which 60% of the material weight is finer
G0 maximum shear modulus at small strains
qt splitting tensile strength
R2 coefficient of determination
η porosity
η/Civ porosity/cement index
d dry unit weight
REFERENCES
ASTM (2008). “Standard test method for laboratory determination of pulse velocities and
ultrasonic elastic constants of rock.” ASTM D 2845-08, West Conshohocken,
Philadelphia.
ASTM (2015). “Standard test methods for wetting and drying compacted soil-cement
mixtures.” ASTM D559, West Conshohocken, Philadelphia.
ASTM (2016). “Standard specification for Portland cement.” ASTM C150, West
Conshohocken, Philadelphia.
ASTM (2017a). “Standard practice for classification of soils for engineering purposes
(Unified Soil Classification System).” ASTM D2487, West Conshohocken,
Philadelphia.
ASTM (2017b). “Standard test method for splitting tensile strength of cylindrical concrete
specimens.” ASTM C496, West Conshohocken, Philadelphia.
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Carraro, J.A.H., Prezzi, M.; and Salgado, R. (2009). “Shear strength and stiffness of sands
containing plastic or nonplastic fines. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental
Engineering, 135(9), 1167–1178.
Chang, T.; and Woods, R.D. (1992). “Effect of particle contact bond on shear modulus.”
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 118(8), 1216–1233.
Chittoori, B.C.S. (2008). “Clay mineralogy effects on long-term performance of chemically
treated expansive clays. Ph.D. thesis, University of Texas at Arlington – USA, 302 p.
Chittoori, B.C.S.; Puppala, A.J.; and Pedarla, A. (2018). “Addressing clay mineralogy effects
on performance of chemically stabilized expansive soils subjected to seasonal wetting
and drying.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 144(1),
04017097.
Consoli, N. C., Foppa, D., Festugato, L.; and Heineck, K. S. (2007). “Key parameters for
strength control of artificially cemented soils. Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering, 133(2), 197–205.
Consoli, N.C.; Thomé, A.; Donato, M.; and Graham, J. (2008). “Loading tests on compacted
soil, bottom ash and lime layers.” Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers –
Geotechnical Engineering, 161(1), 29-38.
Consoli, N.C.; Dalla Rosa, F.; and Fonini, A. (2009). “Plate load tests on cemented soil layers
overlaying weaker soil.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering,
135(12), 1846-1856.
Consoli, N.C.; Fonseca, A.V.; Cruz, R.C.; and Silva, S.R. (2011). “Voids/cement ratio
controlling tensile strength of cement treated soils.” Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering, 137(11), 1126–1131.
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Consoli, N.C.; Ferreira, P.M.V.; Tang, C.-S.; Veloso Marques, S.F.; Festugato, L.; and Corte,
M. B. (2016). “A unique relationship determining strength of silty/clayey soils –
Portland cement mixes.” Soils and Foundations, 56(6), 1082–1088.
Consoli, N.C.; Da Silva, J.K.; Scheuermann Filho, H.C.; and Rivoire, A.B. (2017).
“Compacted clay-industrial wastes blends: Long term performance under extreme
freeze-thaw and wet-dry conditions.” Applied Clay Science, 146, 404-410.
Consoli, N.C.; Quiñónez Samaniego, R.A.; González, L.E.; Bittar, E.J.; and Cuisinier, O.
(2018). “Impact of severe climate conditions on loss of mass, strength, and stiffness of
compacted fine-grained soils–Portland cement blends.” Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, 30(8), 04018174.
Diambra, A.; Festugato, L.; Ibraim, E.; Peccin Da Silva, A.; and Consoli, N.C. (2018).
“Modelling tensile/compressive strength ratio of artificially cemented clean sand.”
Soils and Foundations, 58(1), 199-211.
Dormon, G.M.; and Metcalf, C.T. (1965). “Design curves for flexible pavements based on
layered system theory.” Highway Research Record, 71, Highway Research Board, 69-
84.
Eseller-Bayat, E.E.; Monkul, M.M.; Akin, O.; and Yenigun, S. (2017). “The coupled
influence of relative density, CSR, plasticity and content of fines on cyclic
liquefaction resistance of sands.” Journal of Earthquake Engineering, DOI:
10.1080/13632469.2017.1342297.
Hataf, N.; and Jamali, R. (2018). “Effect of fine-grain percent on soil strength properties
improved by biological method.” Geomicrobiology Journal, 35(8), 695-703.
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Kuerbis, R.; Negussey, D.; and Vaid, Y.P. (1988). “Effect of gradation and fines content on
the undrained response of sand.” Geotechnical Special Publication No. 21, ASCE,
330–45.
Le Runigo, B., Cuisinier, O., Cui, Y.-J., Ferber, V. and Deneele, D. (2009). “Impact of initial
state on the fabric and permeability of a lime-treated silt under long-term leaching.”
Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 46(11), 1243–1257.
Phan, V.T.-A.; Hsiao, D.-H.; and Nguyen, P.T.-L. (2016). “Effects of fines contents on
engineering properties of sand-fines mixtures.” Procedia Engineering, 142, 213–220.
Stoltz, G.; Cuisinier, O.; and Masrouri, F. (2014). “Weathering of a lime-treated clayey soil
by drying and wetting cycles.” Engineering Geology, 181, 281–289.
Thornton, C. (2000). “Numerical simulations of deviatoric shear deformation of granular
media.” Géotechnique, 50(1), 43–53.
Wang, Y.; and Wang, Y. (2010). “Study of effects of fines content on liquefaction properties
of sand.” GeoShanghai International Conference 2010, ASCE, [DOI:
10.1061/41102(375)33].
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
TABLE 1. Physical properties of the five materials used in this study.
Properties Sand (Sand + 10%fines) (Sand + 20%fines) (Sand + 30%fines) Fines
Plastic Index Non-
plastic Non-plastic Non-plastic Non-plastic
Non-
plastic
Specific gravity 2.65 2.56 2.52 2.44 2.20
Gravel (75 mm <
diameter < 4.75
mm) – (%)
0 0 0 0 0
Coarse sand
(4.75mm < diameter
< 2 mm) – (%)
0 0 0 0 0
Medium sand (2
mm < diameter <
0.425 mm) – (%)
0 0 0 0 0
Fine sand (0.075
mm < diameter <
0.425 mm) – (%)
97 87 77 67 0
Silt (0.002 mm <
diameter < 0.075
mm) – (%)
3 12 21 30 91
Clay (diameter <
0.002 mm) – (%) 0 1 2 3 9
D60 (mm) 0.16 0.15 0.14 0.12 0.03
Mean particle
diameter, D50 (mm) 0.14 0.13 0.12 0.10 0.023
D30 (mm) 0.11 0.10 0.08 0.06 0.019
Equivalent particle
diameter, D10 (mm) 0.08 0.07 0.02 0.016 0.006
Cc 0.9 1.0 2.8 2.0 2.2
Cu 1.9 2.2 7.3 7.7 4.3
USCS classification
(ASTM 2017)
Poorly
graded
sand
(SP)
Silty sand (SM) Silty sand (SM) Silty sand (SM) Silt
(ML)
TABLE 2. Characteristics of the specimens used in the durability tests.
Dry unit weight (kN/m³) 15.5 16.5
Fines content (%) 30 10, 20, 30
Cement content (%) 11 5, 8, 11
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
FIGURE CAPTIONS
FIGURE 1: Particle size distributions of the five samples used in this study.
FIGURE 2: Standard-energy compaction curve of Osório sand with 10% of fines.
FIGURE 3: (a) Splitting tensile strength (qt) versus η/(Civ)0.28
for 5, 8 and 11% of Portland
cement and γd = 14.5, 15.5 and 16.5 kN/m3; (b) Splitting tensile strength (qt) versus
η/Civ for 5, 8 and 11% of Portland cement and γd = 14.5, 15.5 and 16.5 kN/m3.
FIGURE 4: Parameter K versus fines content.
FIGURE 5: Accumulated loss of mass (ALM) versus number of wetting-drying cycles of
sands with (a) 10, 20 and 30% of fines, d = 16.5 kN/m3, and 11% of Portland cement,
(b) 30% of fines, d = 16.5 kN/m3 and 5, 8 and 11% of Portland cement, and (c) 30%
of fines, and d equal to 15.5 or 16.5 kN/m3 and 11% of Portland cement.
FIGURE 6: Maximum shear modulus at small strains (G0) versus number of wetting-drying
cycles for sands with (a) 10, 20 and 30% of fines, d = 16.5 kN/m3, and 11% of
Portland cement (including schematic particle model), (b) 30% of fines, d = 16.5
kN/m3 and 5, 8 and 11% of Portland cement and (c) 30% of fines, d equal to 15.5
kN/m3 or 16.5 kN/m
3 and 11% of Portland cement.
FIGURE 7: Variation of splitting tensile strength (qt) versus number of wetting-drying
cycles for sands with 10 and 30% of fines, d = 16.5 kN/m3, and 11% of Portland
cement.
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Accepted manuscript doi: 10.1680/jgeen.18.00243
Downloaded by [ Imperial College London Library] on [28/05/19]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.