Compressive strength characteristics of polyurethane cemented sea sand

Abstract

Sea sand exhibits typical features of loose structure, large compressibility and poor consolidation, causing severe challenges for the construction and emergency repair of coastal engineering. A new Hybrid Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane (HNIPU) was utilized as a curing agent to prepare HNIPU-sea sand mixtures (HSM) in this study. A series of uniaxial compression and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests were conducted to explore the strength property and microscopic curing mechanism of HSM. As the mass ratio of polyurethane to sea sand increased from 0.1 to 0.7, the uniaxial compressive strength of HSM first increased from 8.75 MPa to 20.09 MPa then decreased to 17.90 MPa. The maximum strength was achieved at a mass ratio of 0.5. The uniaxial compressive strength increased by 79.46% and 58.41% within a temperature range of −10–60 °C and a curing time range of 10–90 min, respectively. Nevertheless, it decreased by 31.06% with an increase from nil to 10% in moisture content. The prediction formula for the uniaxial compressive strength of HSM can be expressed as a function of multiple influencing factors using regression analysis. The main factors affecting the uniaxial compressive strength of HSM are mass ratio, moisture content, curing time, temperature and gradation in sequence. Furthermore, the progressive failure of HSM were identified based on the complete stress-strain curves in conjunction with the failure mode (X-shaped conjugated shear). It is well documented that HNIPU can rapidly fill, encapsulate and cement sea sand and remarkably enhance its strength, ductility and toughness. These research results may provide an effective method for the rapid reinforcement of the beach sand foundation.