Experimental study on the erosion resistance of rubberized cement-soil

Abstract

This study examines the effects of granular rubber on the erosion resistance of Cement Soil (CS). Rubber powder was incorporated into CS where the Cement Content Ratios (CCR) of the samples were 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% at five different Rubber Particles Content Ratios (RCR) of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. The main tests included Erosion test, Permeability test and Crystallization test, and theses test results were used to analyze the influence and mechanism of rubber particles on the erosion resistance of CS. Under the action of NaCl and Na2SO4 solutions, the mass and unconfined compressive strength of rubberized cement soil (RCS) went up first, and then decreased with the increase of RCR. When the CCR is more than 20%, the increase of CCR has no obvious effect on the strength after the erosion process. The compressive strength was stronger with bigger size of the rubber particles. Under the same depth, the chloride ion content of RCS decreased with the increase of RCR. When the RCR is more than 15%, there is no significant effect on the erosion resistance with adding more rubber particles in CS. The reasons for increasing of erosion resistance of RCS can be summed up into three aspects: blocking capillary action, elastomer action and preventing crack propagation action. The effect of elastomer delays the time of cracks developing of CS. From the SEM test, it can be observed that the rubber powder hindered the development of micro-cracks since it offered adequate restraint to prevent the shorter cracks from propagating. All the above results show that rubber powder can effectively improve the erosion resistance of cement soil.