Effect of Disintegration Times of the Homogeneity of Soil prior to Treatment

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study to investigate the effect of various disintegration times on the homogeneity of pre-treated natural soil before mixing with cementitious binders. Various disintegration times were applied, ranging from 10 s to 120 s. Four different soils were used with different characteristics from high, medium and low plasticity properties. Visual and sieving assessment were used to evaluate the best disintegration times to allow for a uniform distribution of water content and small-sized particles that would produce a uniform distribution of the binder around the soil particles. Results showed that a proper mixing time to homogenize and disintegrate the soil prior to treatment depended on several factors: soil type, water content and plasticity properties. For high plasticity soil, the disintegration time should be kept as short as possible. Increasing the disintegration time ha negative effects on the uniformity of distribution of the binder around soil particles. The homogenizing and disintegration time were less important for low plasticity soils with low water content than for medium to high plasticity soils. The findings could assist various construction projects that deal with soil improvement through preparation of soil before adding a cementitious binder to ensure uniformity of distribution of the binder around soil particles and obtain uniform soil–binder mixtures.