Investigation on the penetrability of cement slurries with three solid-phase particle sizes in coral sands with different gradations

Abstract

The law of penetrability of cement slurry in coral sand media is a key issue in the design of foundation grout reinforcement and construction in coral sand formations. Indoor infiltration grouting tests were conducted to evaluate the influences of the characteristic parameters of cement slurry and coral sands on the penetrability, to classify the penetrability of three kinds of cement slurries with different solid-phase particle sizes (SP) in coral sands with different gradations, to ascertain the dominant permeation intervals of typical cement slurries in coral sands in terms of penetrability, and to reveal the dynamic competitive relationships between the SP and viscosity of the slurries on the penetrability. In addition, the influences of the filtration effect on the penetrability in terms of the infiltration channels and the diffusion rate of the slurries were determined. The results showed that the characteristic parameters of the slurry and coral sands affected the penetrability in descending order thus: water-cement ratio, permeability coefficient of coral sands (PC), grouting pressure, and cement particle diameter d90. The ranking of the three typical cement slurry grouting capacity is different according to the different permeation properties of the injected medium. In actual grouting operations, the trade-off between the solid particle size and viscosity of the slurry should be considered based on the permeation performance of coral sands, and a slurry with an advantage of penetrability is selected.