Experimental Study on the Impermeability and Micromechanisms of Basalt Fiber-Reinforced Soil-Cement in Marine Environments

Abstract

In coastal areas, structures such as cement-soil dams are often eroded by seawater, so it is significant to study how to improve the impermeability of cement-soil. Basalt fiber with a strong tensile property, good stability and a high-performance price ratio was selected as the additive to study the influence of the basalt fiber content on the permeability of soil-cement. The permeability test and the chloride ion permeability test were used to evaluate the best mixing amount. The results of the permeability test showed that, although the permeability coefficient of soil-cement decreased with the increase in the basalt fiber content, the decreased rate of the permeability coefficient showed a slowing trend. The results of the chloride ion permeability test indicated that the chloride ion-related impermeability of soil-cement was enhanced with the increase in the basalt content, which was confirmed by the consistent findings of the contrast permeability test. The comprehensive analysis shows that the optimal content ratio of the basalt fiber was 1.5%. Furthermore, a SEM analysis established that the addition of the basalt fiber reduced the soil-cement porosity, improved the structural compactness and formed a more stable whole. This study could serve as a valuable reference for soil-cement used in projects with impermeability requirements.