Cementation and bond degradation of rubber–sand mixtures

Abstract

Cementation influences the mechanical behavior of soils. The effects of cementation and bond degradation are investigated for lightly cemented rigid sand and soft rubber particle mixtures subjected to vertical loading under the K0condition. Cemented and uncemented specimens were prepared with various sand volume fractions. The propagation velocity of small strain body waves was measured by piezo materials, incorporated within an oedometer. Cemented specimens exhibited a bilinear behavior in the semi-log plot (vertical strain versus log of vertical stress). Vertical strains of a cemented specimen normalized by an uncemented specimen show that the stress–strain behavior is controlled by several different mechanisms and forces: capillary force, cementation bonds, and interparticle contact stresses after bond degradation. The elastic wave velocities dramatically increase due to cementation hardening under fixed vertical stress, and are constant after curing even though vertical stress increases. Additional loading of the vertical effective stress decreases the elastic wave velocities due to bond degradation. The shear wave velocity presents three behavior regions as a function of the sand fraction for both uncemented and cemented specimens: rubber-like, sand-like, and transition behaviors. The vertical stress–strain response and the elastic wave velocities can serve as indicators of cementation and bond degradation.