Load-settlement mechanism of strip footings rested on saturated loose sand and improved by zeolite–cement pads

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the performance of cemented sand pads after being incorporated with zeolite. Therefore, mechanical properties of the prepared zeolite–cemented sand pads were measured by a series of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests. Also, several small 1 g model tests were conducted to evaluate the behavior of shallow foundations rested on the prepared pads. The results demonstrated a remarkable increase in the UCS of the 14 and 28 days cured pads containing 40 wt% zeolite. In addition, incorporating 40 wt% zeolite into the cemented sand pads improved both their strength improvement ratio (SIR) and settlement reduction ratio (SRR). In particular, the SIR and SRR of the pads containing 40 wt% zeolite improved up to 323% and 86% respectively compared to that of the pristine cemented sand pads. As such, adding zeolite to the cemented sand is one of the most promising candidate to overcome the shortcomings of sandy soils in backfills, roadbeds, embankments, and etc. It is notable that this method taking the advantages of easy fabrication, low cost, and absence of environmentally deleterious wastes.