Experimental Research on the Engineering Properties of Foam-Improved Red Clay Soil

Abstract

Red clay soil is widely distributed in south China, the microstructure of red clay soil was studied applying scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) test found that a large number of swelling inducing minerals, for example, montmorillonite, illite-montmorillonite or chlorite-smectite were contained in the red clay soil. Shield tunneling in this kind of stratum is prone to arising “cake” and “arch” phenomena and it prone to lead screw conveyor device unsmooth dumping, so soil improvement measures must be taken. Foam as the most advanced soil conditioner has been widely used in shield construction. Using self-developed foam agent, experimental research on foam conditioning red clay soil was carried out, test results show that foam can not only significantly reduce the soil shear strength, but also can greatly enhance the soil's compressibility and fluidity, which is significant for the smooth dumping and excavation face stability maintenance.