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Stabilization mechanism for sands treated with organic acids

  • Geotechnical Engineering
  • Technical Note
  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope

Abstract

Contractors tout the use of organic acids for soil improvement even though the underlying stabilization mechanism is not well understood. Strength, stiffness, and chemical tests were conducted on two sandy materials treated with a commercial organic acid mixture to evaluate the effectiveness and stabilization mechanism involved. After curing for 28 days, tests show a moderate increase in unconfined compressive strength, approximately two-fold, and a large increase in constrained modulus, approximately one order of magnitude. X-ray diffraction and chemical analyses do not suggest traditional pozzolanic reactions as the source of improvements in the treated specimens. Test results suggest the organic acid solution promotes microbe growth and thus an increase in organic matter within the sand skeleton. This reduction in void space increases relative density to levels above the maximum unit weight of the host sand, resulting in higher soil strength and stiffness.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Nuclear Power Plant Engineering, KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School, Ulsan, 689-882, Korea

    Eric Yee

  2. Ocean Industry Research Dept., Advanced Technology Institute, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan, 682-792, Korea

    Jonghwi Lee

  3. Dept. of Civil end Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 133-791, Korea

    Younghun Kim

  4. Daekyung E&C, Hanam, 431-804, Korea

    Kyungmin Kim

  5. Dept. of Civil end Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, 133-791, Korea

    Byungsik Chun

Authors
  1. Eric Yee
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  2. Jonghwi Lee
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  3. Younghun Kim
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  4. Kyungmin Kim
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  5. Byungsik Chun
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Correspondence to Eric Yee.

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Yee, E., Lee, J., Kim, Y. et al. Stabilization mechanism for sands treated with organic acids. KSCE J Civ Eng 18, 1001–1008 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-014-0498-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-014-0498-y

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