Fabric changes induced by super-absorbent polymer on cementelime stabilized excavated clayey soil

This paper studies the microstructure variation induced by super-absorbent polymer(SAP)to understand the mechanism of macroscopic strength improvement of stabilized soil.The fabric changes of cement elime stabilized soil were analyzed with respect to the variation of SAP content,water content,lime content and curing time,using mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)tests.It can be observed that the delimitation pore diameter between inter-and intra-aggregate pores was 0.2 mm for the studied soil,determined through the intrusion/extrusion cycles.Experimental results showed that fabric in both inter-and intra-aggregate pores varied significantly with SAP content,lime content,water content and curing time.Two main changes in fabric due to SAP are identified as:(1)an increase in intra-aggregate pores(<0.2 mm)due to the closer soilecementelime cluster space at higher SAP content;and(2)a decrease in inter-aggregate pores represented by a reduction in small-pores(0.2e2 mm)due to the lower pore volume of soil mixture after water absorption by SAP,and a slight increase in large-pores(>2 mm)due to the shrinkage of SAP particle during the freezeedry process of MIP test.Accordingly,the strength gain due to SAP for cementelime stabilized soil was mainly due to a denser fabric with less interaggregate pores.The cementitious products gradually developed over time,leading to an increase in intra-aggregate pores with an increasing proportion of micro-pores(0.006e0.2 mm).Meanwhile,the inter-aggregate pores were filled by cementitious products,resulting in a decrease in total void ratio.Hence,the strength development over time is attributable to the enhancement of cementation bonding and the refinement of fabric due to the increasing cementitious compounds.

Influence of cooling speed on the physical and mechanical properties of granite in geothermal-related engineering

In deep-earth engineering,the high earth temperature can significantly affect the rock's mechanical properties,especially when the rock is cooled during the construction process.Accordingly,whether the cooling speed affects the mechanical and physical properties of rocks is worth to be investigated.The present study explored the influence of the cooling rate on the physical and chemical properties of granite heated at 25–800°C.The mechanical and physical properties involved in this study included uniaxial compression strength,peak strain,modulus,P-wave velocity,mass and volume,the change of which could reflect the sensitivity of granite to the cooling rate.Acoustic emission(AE)monitoring,microscopic observation,and X-ray diffraction(XRD)are used to analyze the underlying damage mechanism.It is found that more AE signals and large-scale cracks are accounted for based on the b-value method when the specimens are cooled by water.Furthermore,the microscopic observation by polarized light microscopy indicates that the density,opening degree,and connectivity of the cracks under water cooling mode are higher than that under natural cooling mode.In addition,the XRD illustrates that there is no obvious change in mineral content and diffraction angle at different temperatures,which confirms that the change of mechanical properties is not related to the chemical properties.The present conclusion can provide a perspective to assess the damage caused by different cooling methods to hot rocks.