Material behaviour of conditioned multiphase mixtures with organic components
Author: Dr.-Ing. Martin Löwen
The research project dealt with the behaviour of multiphase mixtures of untreated and conditioned soils with organic components or admixtures. Soils with organic components, such as peat, usually show very pronounced deformation behaviour. Their bearing capacity depends in particular on the content of organic components , their degree of decomposition and the associated water content.
The investigations carried out on multiphase mixtures (soil/soil binder) were accordingly carried out with the objective of investigating the compression behaviour as well as the shear strength of soils with organic components, depending on the addition of different binders and proportions. On this basis, a high-performance material was developed, which above all has sufficient load-bearing capacity.
Investigations on three peats with deviating soil mechanical characteristics have shown that conditioning/stabilisation - preferably with cements - is possible, which means that existing peat horizons can also be made usable as building ground using suitable engineering methods such as the mixed-in-place or mixed-in-plant methods. A prerequisite for this is targeted laboratory testing to determine the soil mechanical parameters of the conditioned soils as accurately as possible. The choice of the initial stress and the time of load increase are of fundamental importance for the subsequent deformation behaviour of the soil improved with binders.
The results of these investigations open up the possibility of also using soils with organic components, stabilised or consolidated by conditioning, as building ground instead of - as has been the case so far - providing for either soil replacement with dumping of the original ground material or deep foundations. From the point of view of sustainability, an impact on the material cycle can be reduced or even completely avoided in this way.
The dissertation was published under: Opus Universität Siegen