Investigation of Erosion of Cement-Bentonite via Piping

Cement-bentonite is one of the main materials used in the seepage barriers to protect earth dams and levees from water erosion. However, the current understanding of the erodibility of the cementitious materials and the interactions between cracked seepage barriers and the water flow is inadequate. Based on the laboratory pinhole erosion test, we first investigated the impacts of cement-bentonite treatments by using the ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) as replacement on the erosion characteristics, compared with the original mixtures; the inclusion of GGBS highlighted a potential advantage against water erosion. In addition, we proposed to calculate the erosion percentage and establish the mathematical relationships between the erosion percentage and different regimes, that is, different curing period, erosion time, and sizes of initial holes. Results showed that enough curing period was critical to avoid the increases of hydraulic conductivity in the macrofabric of the barrier; meanwhile, the materials were eroded quickly at the beginning and slowed down with the erosion time, where the enlargement of the initial creaks would be stabilised at some point in time. Moreover, the sizes of initial holes may affect the erosion situation varying from the sample curing periods.

Laboratory assessment of permeability of sand and biopolymer mixtures

Laboratory assessment of permeability of sand and biopolymer mixtures. This research presents a method of creating seepage barriers in a sandy soil using biopolymer additives (biosubstance), which consist of polysaccharides and water. Polysaccharides strongly interact with water to produce a viscous suspension. The paper aims to investigate the influence of a biosubstance employed in a highly permeable sandy soil. Amount of the biopolymer used in a sample were 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%, by dry weight. The test results indicate that the hydraulic conductivity significantly decrease with the amount of biosubstance added but only slightly increase when curing time gets longer. It is thought that such application, which is a relatively new soil improvement technique, could be used as a seepage barrier installation required to protect some geotechnical works including foundation, underground structures and waste disposals