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Mechanical behavior of bio-cemented silty sand

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Abstract

This paper presents results of a series of direct shear box tests conducted on Chlef sand treated with biopolymer. The first laboratory tests set was performed on specimens of untreated and treated natural sand with different xanthan gum contents (XG = 0; 0.25; 0.5; and 1%) prepared at a curing period of 7 days under three different normal stresses 50, 100 and 200 kPa in order to analyze the effect of xanthan gum content on bio-cemented sand. The second set was performed on untreated and treated clean sand with different fines fractions at a xanthan gum content of XG = 0.25% by mass to study the effect of fines fraction on the mechanical behavior of xanthan gum treated sand. Test results showed that the addition of xanthan gum improved the shear strength parameters of sand up to four times for the higher xanthan gum contents, and a significant increase in the shear strength and cohesion value is obtained by adding small percentages of xanthan gum. Shear strength characteristics of bio-cemented sand-fines mixture show that an increment in fines fraction increases the maximum shear strength and friction angle values. Furthermore, the cohesion of treated sand-fines mixtures increased by 12, 21, and 32 times at fines contents of 10, 20, and 30%. In addition, the contractive behavior of sand-fines mixtures changes into a dilative behavior with the addition of a small content of xanthan gum XG = 0.25%. However, the introduction of xanthan gum into the soil matrix increased the brittleness index of Chlef sand.

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Abbreviations

D50:

Medium grain size

Dmax:

Maximum diameter

Cu:

Coefficient of uniformity

Cc:

Coefficient of curvature

G:

Mean specific gravity

Gs :

Specific gravity of sand

Gf :

Specific gravity of fines

Emax:

Maximum void ratio

Emin:

Minimum void ratio

XG:

Xanthan gum content

Fc:

Fines content

Fct :

Threshold fines content

Σ:

Normal stress

Dr:

Relative density

τ:

Shear strength

ΔH:

Horizontal displacement

ΔV:

Vertical displacement

τmax :

Maximum shear strength

τmaxUT :

Maximum shear strength of untreated samples

τmaxT :

Maximum shear strength treated samples

τres :

Residual shear strength

Sr:

Strength ratio

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Acknowledgements

All tests were carried out in the Laboratory of Material Sciences & Environment at Hassiba Benbouali of Chlef, Algeria. The writers acknowledge the technicians who contributed to this experimental program.

Funding

The authors are grateful for the financial support received from the Directorate General for Scientific Research and Technological Development (DGRSDT), Algeria.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Materials Science and Environment (LMSE), Department of Civil Engineering, Hassiba Benbouali University of Chlef, Chlef, Algeria

    Mehdi Missoum Benziane, Noureddine Della, Abdelhamid Flitti, Moustapha Kaddour Djebbar & Meryem Baizid

  2. Département Microzonage Sismique, Centre National de Recherche Appliquée en Génie Parasismique, Hussein Dey, Algiers, Algeria

    Samir Bedr

Authors
  1. Mehdi Missoum Benziane
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  2. Noureddine Della
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  3. Samir Bedr
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  4. Abdelhamid Flitti
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  5. Moustapha Kaddour Djebbar
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  6. Meryem Baizid
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Noureddine Della.

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Responsible Editor: Zeynal Abiddin Erguler

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Missoum Benziane, M., Della, N., Bedr, S. et al. Mechanical behavior of bio-cemented silty sand. Arab J Geosci 15, 577 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-09776-y

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