Mechanical behaviour of epoxy resin-grouted sand under monotonic or cyclic loading

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to investigate the use of an amino-based epoxy resin as a new chemical grout with different resin-to-water ratios on the static and cyclic behaviours of medium–fine sand. To evaluate the effect of grouting on the static behaviour of grouted sand, unconfined compression tests were performed on specimens at different curing ages. The cyclic behaviour of grouted sand was investigated in stress control mode at a frequency of 1 Hz with different load amplitudes. The laboratory test results showed that epoxy resin grouting significantly improved the strength of sand under monotonic or cyclic loading over time. The values of the compressive strength (CS) and elastic modulus of the different grouted samples, at a curing age of 180 days, ranged from 0·64 to 3·9 MPa and 150 to 430 MPa. At the same curing age, cyclic tests showed that grouted samples failed at significantly higher stress levels and number of loading cycles than untreated samples. Based on the experimental results, non-linear regression analysis was performed to correlate the number of cycles to the failure or strength loss to the stress level of the cyclic loading and CS of grouted sand.