Polymer Impregnation to Assist Undisturbed Sampling of Cohesionless Soils
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 122, Issue 3
Abstract
Agarose, a derivative of the natural polymer, agar, is proposed as an impregnate to stabilize the in-situ structure of cohesionless soils before sampling. The gel solution is injected into the in-situ voids after heating the soil. Sampling is performed using conventional sampling techniques and gel removal is achieved in the laboratory test device by reheating the specimen and flushing out the agarose with warm water. The process of heating, impregnation with agarose, cooling, reheating, and agarose removal was found to have no significant effect on the cyclic mobility of two contractive Ottawa sands. The technology shows promise for an accurate estimate of the in-situ void ratio and for an economic undisturbed sampling of cohesionless soils.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Araki, C. (1956). “Structure of agarose, a main polysaccharide of agar-agar.”Memoirs of the faculty of industrial arts: Vol. 5, Kyoto Tech. Univ., Japan, 21–25.
2.
Arnott, S., Fulmer, A., Scott, W. E., Dea, I. C. M., Moorhouse, R., and Rees, D. A. (1974). “The agarose double helix and its function in agarose gel formation.”J. Molecular Biol., Vol. 90, 269–284.
3.
Baligh, M. M., Azzouz, A. S., and Chin, C.-T.(1987). “Disturbance due to “ideal” tube sampling.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 113(7), 739–757.
4.
Campanella, R. G., and Mitchell, J. K.(1968). “Influence of temperature variations on soil behavior.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 94(3), 709–734.
5.
Chan, C. K. (1981). “An electropneumatic cyclic loading system.”ASTM Geotech. Testing J., Vol. 4, 183–187.
6.
Demars, K. R., and Charles, R. D. (1982). “Soil volume changes induced by temperature cycling.”Can. Geotech. J., Ottawa, Canada, Vol. 19, 188–194.
7.
Erken, A., Chameau, J.-L., and Frost, J. D. (1991).“Steady state behavior of sands.”Internal Rep., Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, Ind.
8.
Frost, J. D. (1989). “Studies on the monotonic and cyclic behavior of sands,” PhD thesis, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, Ind.
9.
Hvorslev, M. J. (1940). “The present status of the art of obtaining undisturbed samples of soils,”Rep., Committee on Sampling and Testing, Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, New York, N.Y.
10.
Kell, G. S. (1975). J. Chemical Engrg. Data, 20(1), 97.
11.
Konrad, J.-M.(1990). “Sampling of saturated and unsaturated sands by freezing.”ASTM Geotech. Testing, 13(2), 88–96.
12.
Mitchell, J. K. (1993). Fundamentals of soil behavior, 2nd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
13.
Mori, K., Seed, H. B., and Chan, C. K.(1978). “Influence of sample disturbance on sand response to cyclic loading.”J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 104(3), 323–339.
14.
Mulilis, J. P., Seed, H. B., Chan, C. K., Mitchell, J. K., and Arulanandan, K.(1977). “Effects of sample preparation on sand liquefaction.”J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 103(2), 91–108.
15.
Rochas, C., and Lahaye, M. (1989). “Average molecular weight and molecular weight distributions of agarose and agarose-type polysaccharides.”Carbohydrate Polymers, Vol. 10, 289–298.
16.
Schneider, H. R., Chameau, J. L., and Leonards, G. A.(1989). “Chemical impregnation of cohesionless soils.”ASTM Geotech. Testing J., 12(3), 204–210.
17.
Seed, H. B., Singh, S., Chan, C. K., and Vilela, T. F.(1982). “Considerations in undisturbed sampling of sands.”J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 108(2), 265–283.
18.
Selby, H. H., and Selby, T. A. (1959). “Agar.”Industrial gums—polysaccharides and their derivatives, R. Whistler and J. BeMiller, eds., Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, Calif.
19.
Singh, S., Seed, H. B., and Chan, C. K. (1979). “Undisturbed sampling and cyclic loading testing of sands.”Internal Rep., Univ. of California at Berkeley, Calif.
20.
Sutterer, K. G. (1993). “Undisturbed sampling of cohesionless soils using polymer impregnation,” PhD thesis, Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA.
21.
Sutterer, K. G., Chameau, J.-L., and Frost, J. D. (1994). “Sampling of granular soils using a polymer.”XIII ICSMFE, Vol. 6, New Delhi, India.
22.
Yoshimi, Y., Hatanaka, M., and Oh-oka, H.(1978). “Undisturbed sampling of saturated sands by freezing.”Soils and Found., Tokyo, Japan, 18(3), 59–73.
23.
Yoshimi, Y., Tokimatsu, K., Kaneko, O., and Makihara, Y.(1984). “Undrained cyclic shear strength of a dense Niigata sand.”Soils and Found., Tokyo, Japan, 24(4), 131–145.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 122 • Issue 3 • March 1996
Pages: 209 - 215
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Mar 1, 1996
Published in print: Mar 1996
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.