USE OF GRAPHENE OXIDE AS AN ADMIXTURE IN GROUTING PROCESS TO IMPROVE THE BEARING

CAPACITY OF SANDY SOILS

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Sand a commonly available granular material, formed through mechanical breakdown

and weathering of rocks like granite, limestone, shale and quartz. Sand tend not retain

water which results into shifting of a structure supported above it as water drains. 

Bearing capacity is maximum load that can be applied into a soil or rock per unit area

without resulting into yielding or excessive displacement.

Grouting on the other hand is a process of injecting or pumping a fluid under pressure

into asubsurface soil or rock to fill voids, cracks and fissures for purpose of achieving a

decrease in permeability and compressibility, to improve it strength or to decrease it

seepage flow.

GO obtained from waste tire is used to increase the viscosity, decreases the fluidity and shortens

the setting time of the mortar. It also reduces the heat of hydration of the cement. The

compressive and flexural strengths of the hardened cement paste at different times are increased

by the addition of GO

ABSTRACT

Grouting which is a popular ground improvement technique has proved effective in reduction in
settlement and reduction in permeability of soils though it’s not well known in most local
engineering industry. This project presents assessment of effect of grouting on geotechnical
properties on granular materials, these are: bearing capacity, shear strength, plastic index and
permeability. The main grouting material used was cement-water grout and with the help of
documented case studies, this paper provides a discussion on effectiveness of weak foundation
treatment by grouting specifically on bearing capacity. It also provides a conclusion on its
effectiveness on granular materials.

Problem statement

Grouting which is a popular ground improvement technique has proved effective in reduction in
settlement and reduction in permeability of soils though it’s not well known in most local
engineering industry. This project presents assessment of graphene oxide and its effect on the
strength properties of the grout which in turn solves the low bearing capacity experienced in sandy
soils.effect of grouting on geotechnical properties on granular materials, these are: bearing capacity,
shear strength, plastic index and permeability.

objectives

The main objective of the research is focused on the quality and improvement of bearing capacity of

sandy soil by grouting in order to improve foundation settlement of structures.

Other objectives include:

to explain the effect of graphene oxide in grout and its relation to bearing capacity of soils.

To establish the effect of graphene oxide on flowability of the grout.

To come up with a suitable mix design for the elements used.

methodology

The main materials used in this research: water, cement, sand and graphene oxide

The main equipment used were a grout mixer, a flow cone apparatus, 50 mm cube grout molds, and

a compressive test machine

Four different volumetric cement : sand ratios were studied, being 1 : 0, 1 : 0.5, 1 : 1.0, 1 : 1.5 and 1 :

2.0, where grout with volumetric ratio of 1 : 0 means grout without sand

The condition of sand used for the grout mix is oven-dry and the water-cement ratio of each mix was

found by trial-and-error to find the minimum water-cement ratio that still satisfies the flow cone

test.

Methodology

Determinatio
Preparation Addition Determinatio
n
Collection n of dry
of cement of paste
Of density and
Of paste by
Soil varying into the plotting of
soil
cement soil graphs
properties
weights