Stress-Strain-Strength Response and Ductility of Gravels Improved by Polyurethane Foam Adhesive
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 2
Abstract
Polyurethane foam adhesive (PFA), a product resulting from exothermic chemical polymerization reactions between the diisocyanate functional group and polyol monomers, can form a closed cellular structure with high strength and stiffness. In the current study, the effectiveness of PFA in improving the strength and ductility of a well-graded gravelly soil was investigated. Using drained triaxial compression tests on the unimproved and PFA-improved soil as the basis for comparison, the peak strength and residual-state strength of the PFA-improved soil increased significantly (from 1.5 to 7 times and from 1.4 to 5.4 times of that of unimproved soil, respectively) with increasing PFA content (from 2 to 8%) at a confining pressure of 100 kPa. For the scenarios of low confining pressure, the PFA additive resulted in a change in volumetric response from contractive to highly dilative. The residual (or pseudo-critical) state lines (RSLs) for PFA-improved soils were observed to be parallel in the and planes, with an upward translation with increasing PFA content. Strain-dependent reductions in stiffness were observed to become more pronounced with increases in PFA content and confining pressure. In particular, the brittleness index for the PFA-improved soil (ranging from 0.01 to 0.29) was found to be much lower than that for the lime-cemented soil (ranging from 0.03 to 2.36), indicating that the PFA-improved gravel exhibited much better ductility than similar gravelly soils improved with lime due to the ductile nature of the polymer bonds. From the perspective of ductility, strength, and economy, the optimal PFA content ranges from 4 to 6% (with an optimum value of approximately 5%). Given its ductile response and stress-strain-strength characteristics, PFA-improved gravelly soils could offer a promising alternative for application to high rockfill dams or railway embankments.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Prof. Mo Gabr (editor in chief), the associate editor and three reviewers for their helpful comments, which served to improve the paper. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the 111 Project (Grant No. B13024), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51678094 and 51509024) and the Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2016M590864).
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 2 • February 2018
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©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jan 6, 2017
Accepted: Jul 5, 2017
Published online: Nov 25, 2017
Published in print: Feb 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Apr 25, 2018
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