Strength characteristics of cemented sand–bentonite mixtures with fiber and metakaolin additions

Bumjoo Kim, Yongseong Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Compacted sand–bentonite mixtures have been used as a good alternative hydraulic barrier material to compacted clays. This study presents the results of a laboratory investigation on the strength characteristics of cement-stabilized sand–bentonite (CSB) mixtures and the effects of adding small amounts of fibers and metakaolin to the mixture material for strength improvement. The strength characteristics of the mixture materials were examined using unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests and splitting tensile strength (STS) tests, with emphasis on evaluating the effects of different proportions of bentonite, fibers, and metakaolin within the CSB mixtures with a constant value of cement content. The test results indicated that the maximum improvements in UCS and STS were all attained in the CSB mixture with 10% bentonite content, and the inclusion of fibers and metakaolin of 1% each within the same CSB mixture led to an increase in UCS of about 40 and 70%, respectively. The addition of fibers also increased the ductility of the mixture material and was more effective for the improvement of tensile strength compared to that of metakaolin. The contribution of metakaolin to early-age strength (i.e., 3 and 7 days) of CSB mixture was found to be small due to the relatively low cement content in the mixture.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)414-425
Number of pages12
JournalMarine Georesources and Geotechnology
Volume35
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 3 Apr 2017

Keywords

  • Cemented sand–bentonite
  • fibers
  • metakaolin
  • splitting tensile strength
  • unconfined compressive strength

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