Dr K S Ho October 2012

Introduction
The Issue Proposed Ground Improvement (DCM) Design Approach Plant & Equipment Verification Q&A

Dr K S Ho - Strengthening of Marine Deposit by Deep Cement Mixing

CWB Dwall Portion 2

The Project

Dr K S Ho - Strengthening of Marine Deposit by Deep Cement Mixing

Some Considerations

Dr K S Ho - Strengthening of Marine Deposit by Deep Cement Mixing

Dr K S Ho - Strengthening of Marine Deposit by Deep Cement Mixing

Deep Cement Mixing (DCM)

Deep Cement Mixing

DCM is based on chemical reactions between clay and chemical agents,

which are usually quick lime or Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). This is done in the field by machines with rotating blades for supplying the chemical agent into the soil and for insitu mechanical mixing of the soil with the agent. The chemical agent absorbs the pore water and reacts with clay particles to form pozzolanic reaction products.
The objective of DCM is to improve the soil shear strength and reduce the

deformation characteristics by mixing the soil with chemical additives that react with the soil.
In the Wet Mixing Method, the medium of transportation of the chemical

agent is water.
Dr K S Ho - Strengthening of Marine Deposit by Deep Cement Mixing

DCM Wet Mixing

The execution of wet mixing is usually carried out following the procedures:
1. Correctly position the mixing tool 2. Penetrate the mixing shaft to the designed depth of treatment with simultaneous disaggregation of the soil by the mixing blades and injection of the cement slurry 3. Withdraw the mixing shaft after reaching the designed depth of treatment. In some cases cement slurry is injected again and mixed with the soil during lifting of the mixing shaft

Penetration Inject Cement Slurry Soil Mixing

Dr K S Ho - Strengthening of Marine Deposit by Deep Cement Mixing

Design Approach

To Design..
Required strength of the treated soil Pattern of installation (e.g. block, wall,

grid, column, etc)

Cement Dosage (Mix Design)
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Lateral Squeezing of Soft Clay

Transportation Research Record 1192 Required minimum undrained shear strength (Cmin ) to avoid lateral squeezing of the soft clay: Cmin Pa/(BL2)

Cmin one-third of applied stress

FOS 1.3
soft clay

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Required Soil Improvement

Example:

Cmin = ghfLB(hmd/2)/BL2
Assume:
g = submerged unit weight of fill = 10 kN/m3 hf = thickness of fill = 10 m L = 15 m B = length of embankment = 1 m hmd = thickness of MD = 10 m Cmin = 33.3,.. say 35 kPa Apply factor of safety of 2 (instead of 1.3),

Cu of soft clay = 70 kPa

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Laboratory & In-Situ Strength

Suzuki (1982): the unconfined compressive strength of laboratory improved soil (Ucl) is represented by the following formula,

Ucl = a b g' l' sc

where: a'= configuration factor = 1/0.9 = 1.11 b'= lap factor = 1/0.8 = 1.25 g' = deviation factor = 1/0.7 = 1.43 l'= laboratory strength/site strength ratio = 1 sc= required in-situ compressive strength = 2Cu of soft clay Therefore, Ucl = 1.11 * 1.25 * 1.43 * 1 * 2 * Cu = 4Cu

Example:

Ucl = 280 kPa

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Improvement Ratio
A

Improvement Area Ratio: R = A/(d1d2)

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Design Strength of Treated Soil

Uq = Ucl / R
where Uq is the design unconfined compressive strength of the soil after improvement by DCM.

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Pattern of Installation
Note overlapping / interlocking of DCM columns

Approx improvement area ratio, R, of this example is about 0.6 to 0.7

Dwall

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Laboratory Soil-Cement Mix Trials

??

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Cement Dosage & Strength

Some published data (Suzuki):

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Mix Design
Typical Range: Cement Dosage = 150 350 kg/m3

w/c ratio = 0.4 0.8

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Plant & Equipment Wet Mixing some examples

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Verification

Verification
SPT

CPT
Mechanical Coring

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References
Larsson, S. (2005) State of Practice Report Execution, monitoring and

quality control. Deep Mixing 2005. (SGI) CDIT (2002) The Deep Mixing Method Principle, Design and Construction, 123p. (Japan) Bruce, D.A. (2000) An Introduction to the Deep Soil Mixing Methods as Used in Geotechnical Applications. FHWA Report No. RD-99-138. (US) Tse, K.H. (2001) Study on Foundation Improvement Methods for Marine Structures. GEO TN6/2001. (HK) BS EN 14679:2005 (2005) Execution of Special Geotechnical Works Deep Mixing (UK) Ho, K.S., Kitazume, M., Terashi, M. & Tsuboi, H. (1997) Development of Deep Mixing Method and Current Practices. CPD Short Course, HKU. Suzuki, Y. (1982) Deep Chemical Mixing Method using Cement as Hardening Agent. Symposium on Recent Developments in Ground Improvement Techniques.
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Dr K S Ho - Strengthening of Marine Deposit by Deep Cement Mixing

Q&A

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Specifications

Technical Specifications
Materials

Water-cement ratio: 0.4 to 0.8 Cement dosage: 100 to 350 kg /m3

Drilling

Soil-cement column: 600 to 800 mm diameter Mixing auger at the end of continuous flight Hollow stem auger Rotation speed: 25 to 50 rpm Penetration depth: min 20 m Penetration speed: 0.5 to 1.5 m/min Retrieval speed: 1 to 3 m/min
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Dr K S Ho - Strengthening of Marine Deposit by Deep Cement Mixing

Injection Rate

50 to 100 litre per min The rate must be limited to avoid increasing the in-situ volume of the soil-cement columns Injection pressure: 2 to 5 bars

Monitoring

Location and depth of soil-cement column Penetration and retrieval speed Rotation speed Injection pressure Feed rate of cement slurry Regular testing of soil-cement samples (strength, flow, uniformity, etc)
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Dr K S Ho - Strengthening of Marine Deposit by Deep Cement Mixing

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HKU Short Course (1997)

Hong Kong Marine Mud

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Some Test Results

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