Experimental study on the performance of compensation grouting in structured soil

Most laboratory test research has focused on grouting efficiency in homogeneous reconstituted soft clay. However, the natural sedimentary soils generally behave differently from reconstituted soils due to the effect of soil structure. A series of laboratory grouting tests were conducted to research the effect of soil structure on the performance of compensation grouting. The effects of grouting volume, overlying load and grouting location on the performance of compensation grouting under different soil structures were also studied. Reconstituted soil was altered with added cement to simulate artificial structured soil. The results showed that the final grouting efficiency was positive and significantly increased with the increase of stress ratio within a certain range when grouting in normally consolidated structured clay. However, in the same low yield stress situation, the artificial structured soil had a lower final grouting efficiency than the overconsolidated reconstituted soil. The larger of normalized grouting volume could increase the final grouting efficiency for both reconstituted and artificial structured soils. Whereas, the effect of the overlying load on final grouting efficiencies was unfavourable, and was independent of the stress ratio. As for the layered soil specimens, grouting in the artificial structured soil layer was the most efficient. In addition, the peak grouting pressure was affected by the stress ratio and the overlying load, and it could be predicted with an empirical equation when the overlying load was less than the yield stress. The end time of primary consolidation and the proportion of secondary consolidation settlement varied with the different soil structures, grouting volumes, overlying loads and grouting locations.