Development of the nano-composite cement:Application in regulating grouting in complex ground conditions

Improvement of the fluidity and setting time of grouting materials has been recognized as an effective approach of seepage prevention in foundation works, and it is quite common to be used for handling severe leakages in complex ground conditions, such as loose, broken and fully fissured stratum. For the purposed of better meeting the engineering requirements, experimental studies were conducted in this study with focus on the nanocomposite grouting materials and the related controlled grouting technology. As compared with the commonly used silicate-sulpho-aluminate composite cement, which is characterized by relatively poor rheological property, quick setting time and low strength, the most suitable nano-material with proper reactants were selected intentionally to improve the mentioned attributes of composite cement. Due to the setting time and strength of the targeted cement slurry behaving with poor performance of harmonization to engineering construction problems, hydration synergistic effect of these composites were investigated in our experiments. Results showed that the properties of grouting materials, including initial fluidity, setting time, ideal right-angle thickening, and early strength and late strength were sufficient to produce an expected grouting application. It is therefore advocated that the refined grouting material could provide a better solution to fix grouting problems in complex ground cementing operations.

The Rheological Properties of Ultra-fine High Performance Grouting Cement

The material properties of surface and powder, rheological property, and mineral composition were investigated by means of SEM, XRD, Malvern laser granulometer and rotary, viscometer. The influence of a admixture on ultra-fine cement rheological properties and its mechanism, were studied in material theories. The results show that the ultra-fine fly ash has a higher zeta potential, and improves flowability of ultra-fine cement paste, decreases flowability loss as time prolonging, improves compatibility between superplasticizers and cement because of the electrostatic repulsion, ball bearing effect, filling and dispersing effect of admixtures and delay-releasing effect of superplasticizers.

Preparation and Performance Research of Cement-based Grouting Materials with High Early Strength and Expansion

Main performance of the cement grouting materials made up by Portland cement（PC） and sulphoaluminate cement（SAC） was investigated in this program, a kind of expanding agent（EA） which was mainly constituted by metakaolin and alunite was utilized for the compensation of the shrinkage, the hydration products and micro structure of the grouting materials were researched by X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）. The results showed that a high expansion rate of the grouting materials could be reached as the expanding agent mixed in 6% of PC mass; the addition of SAC in the S2（PC：SAC：EA=34：6：2.25） brought a further improvement of the expansion rate of the grouting materials, the analysis of XRD and SEM showed that due to the reaction of expanding agent and SAC in the grouting materials, more ettringite crystal was generated, which resulted in a higher early strength, the addition of SAC played an expansion and strength reinforcement role in the grouting materials.

Hydraulicity of Wet-milling Ultra-fine Grouting Cement

The physical and mechanical properties of wet-milling ultra-fine grouting cement were studied,and its microstructure was observed through modern instrumentation analysis such as scanning electronic microscopy(SEM),X-ray diffraction and Hg-intrusion micromeritics.The experimental results indicate that wet-milling ultra-fine cement possesses high rheological properties and groutability.It can be filled densely in cracks of rock and hydrate fully,which may endow hydrated cement with high mechanical strength.Main hydration products of wet-milling ultra-fine cement are poorly crystalline C-S-H(Ⅰ),acicular AFt and plank-shape Ca(OH)_2.The dense crystal-network structure can be formed in the rock gaps filled with cement paste,but some weak regions exist owing to Ca(OH)_2.The features of micro-pore structure of hydrated wet-milling ultra-fine cement are few big harmful pores,abundant harmless micro pores and little most possible pore radius.

Development and application of novel high‐efficiency composite ultrafine cement grouts for roadway in fractured surrounding rocks

The fractured surrounding rocks of roadways pose major challenges to safe mining.Grouting has often been used to reinforce the surrounding rocks to mitigate the safety risks associated with fractured rocks.The aim of this study is to develop highly efficient composite ultrafine cement(CUC)grouts to reinforce the roadway in fractured surrounding rocks.The materials used are ultrafine cement(UC),ultrafine fly ash(UF),ultrafine slag(US),and additives(superplasticizer[SUP],aluminate ultrafine expansion agent[AUA],gypsum,and retarder).The fluidity,bleeding,shrinkage,setting time,chemical composition,microstructure,degree of hydration,and mechanical property of grouting materials were evaluated in this study.Also,a suitable and effective CUC grout mixture was used to reinforce the roadway in the fractured surrounding rock.The results have shown that the addition of UF and US reduces the plastic viscosity of CUC,and the best fluidity can be obtained by adding 40%UF and 10%US.Since UC and UF particles are small,the pozzolanic effect of UF promotes the hydration reaction,which is conductive to the stability of CUC grouts.In addition,fine particles of UC,UF,and US can effectively fill the pores,while the volumetric expansion of AUA and gypsum decreases the pores and thus affects the microstructure of the solidified grout.The compressive test results have shown that the addition of specific amounts of UF and US can ameliorate the mechanical properties of CUC grouts.Finally,the CUC22‐8 grout was used to reinforce the No.20322 belt roadway.The results of numerical simulation and field monitoring have indicated that grouting can efficaciously reinforce the surrounding rock of the roadway.In this research,high‐performance CUC grouts were developed for surrounding rock reinforcement of underground engineering by utilizing UC and some additives.

Mechanical Behaviors and Deformation Properties of Retaining Wall Formed by Grouting Mould-Bag Pile

The simplified mechanical model and finite element model are established on the basis of the measured results and analysis of the grouting pile deformation monitoring,surface horizontal displacement and vertical displacement monitoring,deep horizontal displacement(inclinometer)monitoring,soil pressure monitoring and seepage pressure monitoring in the lower reaches of Wuan River regulation project in Shishi,Fujian Province.The mechanical behavior and deformation performance of mould-bag pile retaining wall formed after controlled cement grouting in the silty stratum of the test section are analyzed and compared.The results show that the use of controlled cement grouting mould-bag pile technology is to strengthen the soft stratum for sealing water and reinforcement,so that it can rock into a retaining wall,which can both retain soil and seal water with excellent effect.The control of cement grouting technology not only makes the soft soil rock in the range of retaining wall of mould-bag pile,but also makes a wide range of soil around the mould-bag pile squeeze and embed to compaction;and its cohesion and internal friction angle increased,so as to achieve the purpose of reducing soil pressure and improving mechanical and deformation properties of retaining wall.

Plastic zone analysis and support optimization of shallow roadway with weakly cemented soft strata

Based on a shallow roadway with weakly cemented soft strata in western China, this paper studies the range and degree of plastic zones in soft strata roadways with weak cementation. Geological radars were used to monitor the loose range and level of surrounding rocks. A mechanical model of weakly cemented roadway was established, including granular material based on the measured results. The model was then used to determine the plastic zone radium. The predicted results agree well with measured results which provide valuable theoretical references for the analysis of surrounding rock stability and support reinforcing design of weakly cemented roadways. Finally, a combined supporting scheme of whole section bolting and grouting was proposed based on the original supporting scheme. It is proved that this support plan can effectively control the deformation and plastic zone expansion of the roadway surrounding rock and thus ensure the long-term stable and safe mining.

Applicability of cement-based grout for ground heat exchanger considering heating-cooling cycles

The applicability of cement grout （or cement-based grout） has been considered as an alternative to bentonite grout commonly used to backfill closed-loop vertical ground heat exchangers. In a geothermal heat pump system, repeated heating-cooling cycles may cause adverse effects on the integrity of cement grout in the ground heat exchanger. To account for the temperature cycling effect, the strength degradation of cement grout due to temperature cycling has been examined by measuring the unconfined compression strength of cured specimens in a humidity-temperature controlling chamber with applying temperature cycles between -5℃ and 50℃. There is a tendency that the unconfined compression strength decreases with an increase in the number of temperature cycles. On the other hand, an equivalent hydraulic conductivity of a pipe-embedded cement grout specimen was evaluated by carrying out a modified flexible wall permeameter test equipped with a water circulating system to control temperature inside the pipe section. The applied operating temperature range was from 5 to 35℃. After three cycles of heating-cooling circulation, the equivalent hydraulic conductivity becomes asymptotic to a constant value, which implies there is no severe detachment of the pipe from the cement grout.

Properties of cement grout modified with ultra-fine slag

The purpose of the study is to obtain a cement grout with improved performance. The grout mixes of the present study contain cement, ultra-fine slag （UFS）, super plasticizer and water. Properties like flowability, bleeding, compressive strength and shrinkage of cement grouts have been studied. Rheological parameters were also studied in order to explain the grout workability. The results show that, cement replacement with slag in grouts could reduce bleeding substantially without affecting the workability of the mixes. Introduction of slag enhanced the compressive strength and reduced shrinkage reasonably. Ultra-fine slag can be used as a supplementary cementitious material in cementitious grouts in order to improve the grout behavior.

Numerical simulation for thermal response test performance in closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger

In this study, a series of numerical analyses was performed in order to evaluate the performance of full-scale closed-loop vertical ground heat exchangers constructed in Wonju, South Korea. The circulating HDPE pipe, borehole and surrounding ground formation were modeled using FLUENT, a finite-volume method (FVM) program, for analyzing the heat transfer process of the ground heat exchanger system. Two user-defined functions (UDFs) accounting for the difference in the temperature of the circulating inflow and outflow fluid and the variation of ground temperature with depth were adopted in the FLUENT modeling. The thermal conductivities of grouts (cement vs. bentonite) measured in laboratory were used as input values in the numerical analyses to compare the thermal efficiency of the cement and bentonite grouts used for installing the closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger. A series of numerical analyses was carried out to simulate in-situ thermal response tests performed in the construction site. From the comparison between the in-situ thermal response test results and numerical simulations, the average thermal conductivity of the ground formation in the construction site is back-calculated as approximately 4 W/mK. This value can be used in evaluating the long-term performance of the closed-loop vertical ground heat ex changer.