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Effects of clay mineral and chloride salt on the strength of PVA-treated soil

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Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as an additive has been widely concerned in soil improvement. In the past, the consolidation effect of the PVA in various soils showed obvious differences. However, the reasons for the difference remain unclear. Clay mineral and soluble salt are important components of the soil. Therefore, this study mainly discussed the effects of clay mineral and chloride salt on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of PVA-treated soil. The results indicated that CaCl2 and MgCl2 significantly increased the UCS of the PVA-treated soil, whereas NaCl decreased the UCS. Illite and kaolinite had little effect on the UCS, while the UCS first decreased and then increased with the increase in the montmorillonite content. When the MgCl2 or CaCl2 content approached 3%, the soil samples cracked after curing at room temperature for 28 days due to the formation of crystalline water, which sometimes decreased the UCS of the samples. According to the results of multiple linear regression, for the effect of the UCS of the PVA-treated soil, MgCl2 > NaCl > CaCl2 > montmorillonite > kaolinite > illite. The effects of clay mineral and chloride salt on the UCS of the PVA-treated soil mainly depended on the changes in the soil structure, hydrogen bonding, and cross-linking reactions according to the results of the microscopic tests. The PVA as a consolidation material is not suitable for the seaside, and it should be applied to the soil with no more than 2% MgCl2 or CaCl2.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key R&D Program of China, No. 2020YFC1522200.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Engineering and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Qiyong Zhang & Shiji Wang

  2. College of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Wenwu Chen

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  1. Qiyong Zhang
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Correspondence to Shiji Wang.

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Zhang, Q., Chen, W. & Wang, S. Effects of clay mineral and chloride salt on the strength of PVA-treated soil. Acta Geotech. 19, 1981–1998 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-023-01997-z

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