Proportioning of Cement-Based Grout for Sealing Fractured Rock-Use of Packing Models

Mohammed Hatem Mohammed, Roland Pusch, Nadhir Al-Ansari, Sven Knutsson, Jan-Erik Jonasson, Mats Emborg, Alireza Pourbakhtiar

Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lule? University of Technology, Lule?, Sweden.
Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Lule? University of Technology, Lule?, Sweden;Department of Civil Engineering, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq.

DOI: 10.4236/eng.2013.510092                

Abstract

Fractured, very permeable rock hosting repositories for radioactive waste will require grouting. New grout types of possible use where long-term performance is needed should have a small amount of cement for minimizing the increase in porosity that will follow from the ultimate dissolution and erosion of this component. They have to be low-viscous and gain strength early after injection and packing theory can assist designers in selecting suitable proportions of various grout components. Optimum particle packing means that the porosity is at minimum and that the amount of cement paste needed to fill the voids between aggregate particles is very small. Low porosity and microstructural stability must be guaranteed for long periods of time. Organic additives for reaching high fluidity cannot be used since they can give off colloids that carry released radionuclides and talc can be an alternative superplasticizer. Low-pH cement reacts with talc to give high strength with time while Portland cement gives early but limited strengthening. The clay mineral palygorskite can be used for early gelation because of its thixotropic properties. Once forced into the rock fractures or channels in soil it stiffens and serves as a filter that prevents fine particles to migrate through it be lost. However, its hydrophilic potential is too high to give the grout a high density and high strength. According to the experiments carried out, most of the investigated grouts are injectable in fractures with apertures down to 100 μm.

Keywords

Cement; Grout; Packing models; Palygorskite; Strength; Superplasticizer; Talc; Viscosity

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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