Experimental Study of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Chemically Grouted Sand and Gravel

Soil or rock mass with low strength or high permeability may not be appropriate for a dam foundation. Especially the faults are mainly composed by loose sand and gravel, so that they can cause severe damages to overlying structures, because of their considerable distress. Grouting is a suitable improvement technical method to solve this problem. Epoxy resins are commonly used in civil engineering because of their high strength and durability against mechanical or physical erosion. The chemical grouting materials is consisted of resin (component A) and hardener (component B). A comprehensive laboratory work was carried out to study the physical and mechanical properties of chemically grouted sand and gravel. Experimental test results show that, the formation of a dense polymer film-sand or film-gravel matrix is resulted in the significant reduction of water permeability and improvement of physical properties. A large number of voids are in filled with epoxy resins which act as adhesive ties to the sand or gravel grains forming a dense impermeable high strength structure. The mechanical properties of sand and gravel are improved by the epoxy resins