CONSTRUCTION UNDER SPECIAL SOIL CONDITIONS

EXPERIENCE IN CHEMICAL STABILIZATION OF LOESS SOILS AT

THE BASE OF BORED INJECTION PILES

S. Yu. Badeev, M. V. Soshin, UDC 624.138.4:624015-4,5

B. N. Kuzin, and B. No Isaev

Injection piles of the type '~ega," '~ighway," etCo, are used widely in the construction
of buildings and structures in Hungary [I], a characteristic of which is the placement in
the pile body of a device for injecting a stabilizing reagent under its foot for creating
a supporting mass of increasing bearing capacity. Such injection piles make it possible to
increase its bearing capacity by simple methods and with small additional expenditures.
The Scientiflc-Research Institute of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics of Rostov State
University together with the VolgodonskAdministration of the State All-Union Trust for
Stabilizatio~ of Foundations and Structures (Gidrospetsstroi) has developed an original
method of constructing a bored injection pile, the essence of which consists in chemical
stabilization of the base under the pile foot with subsequent pressure testing of the stabi-
lized mass with cement grout [2].
For further development of the technology of constructing such injection piles and deter-
mining their bearing capcity, in 1981-1982 experiments were conducted in an area of indust-
rial zone No. 3 in Volgodonsk. The construction and assembly works were performed by the
Volgodonsk Administration of Gidrospetsstroi with the participation of the Scientific-
Research Institute of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics of Rostov State University, and the
piles were tested by the Volgodonsk field detachment of the State Special Design Institute
(Gidrospetsproekt).

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Fig • i. Bored injection pile.

Rostov State University. Translated from Osnovanlya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov,

No. 2, pp. 20-22, March-April, 1987.

72 0038-0741/87/2402-0072512.50 O 1987 Plenum Publishing Corporation

 TABLE I
Para~etecs of stabilization Injection conditions
during silicatization duringcementing
~e
I m~
-,~ = o Comment
o.~ ~=i
o
~m 0~-, o= O=~" I
,J o t~O~
00"~ U O • ~'~ l
== =
,16 5~ 1,8 24,4 1,20 320 0,1--0,4 133 40 0,I--0,4 16 20 Cementing was perfor~
2 h after silicatiza
-- 1,20 155 0.1--0,4 9 18

m,
I Pile dimensions [ Ultimate
I .in. load
Settlement
trader the I Elastic
rise of a
o Des~E~ characteristics of the pile I stem stem dia- (on pile acc. ultimate
llength, m meter, mm ~to test re- load, m~ pile,
~ sults, kN
T 2 8 4 5 6

i I Boredinjectionpileonstabilized base
i
12~ 7~ 16~ 11,5 1,9
red injection pile with cementing the gap under 12,3 7~ 12~ 2,8 0,9
e ~oot on a natural base
Bored p i l e 24,3 700 1750 4~ 3,0

Not_~e. The data given in columns 5-7 are taken as the arithmetic mean of testing two
piles of each type. All piles were tested with local flooding in accordance with the
standards.

Engineering-geological surveys and laboratory investigations of the soils were preli-

minarily carried out, which showed that the area can be divided into three engineering-
geological elements: the first with a thickness of 15 m composed of slump-prone loesslike
loams, the second with a thickness of 5 m represented by saturated nonslumping loams of
very soft and liquid consistency, and the third with a thickness of 4 m composed of very
dense clays with interlayersof clayey sand. The water table was recorded at a depth of
16 m. The soils of the base had slumping properties to 15 m. Maximum slump-proneness
was observed at a depth of 6 m. The total slump of the soil from its own weight was 11.6 cm,
and therefore the area was assigned to type II of soil conditions with respect ~ to slump-
proneness. The natural water content of the soils varied within 0.13-0.25, increasing with
depth, the porosity within 0.39-0.51, the carbonate content within 4-14.5%, the exchange
capacity (according to V. E. Sokolovich) was 22-24 meq/100 g soil, the pH of a water extract
was 7.6-8.0.

An analysis of the engineering-geological conditions of the area and results of labora-

tory stabilization of the soil showed that the soils in the range of depths from l0 to 15 m
can be stabilized by the method of one-solution silicatization and its modifications.
To provide complete penetration of the entire slump-prone stratum, the design of a bored
injection pile supported on the mass of stabilized soil constructed above the water table was
developed.

The bored injection pile (Fig. i) consists of a stem 1 with reinforcement cage 2 located
in hole 3, a device 4 for injecting the stabilizing solutions, including injection pipe 5
with shutoff 6 and pile stem limiter 7 with supports 8 in the form of metal disk 9 along the
contour of which is placed rubber hose i0. The limiter on the bottom of the hole forms a
cavity for injecting solutions ii being filled with cement grout 12 after stabilizing the
base of the pile. The rubber hose of the limiter is intended for preventing escape of the
solution between the walls of the hole and body of the pile as well as for excluding the
entry of fresh cement into the injection cavity. The pile rests on the mass of stabilized
soil 13.

The works on constructing the injection pile are performed in the following sequence.
A hole with a depth of 12.3 m and diameter of 70 cm is drilled and simultaneously the device
for injecting the stabilizing solutions, which is mounted on the reinforcement cage of the
pile, is assembled on the surface. Then the cage with the device is lowered to the bottom
of the hole and lower surface of the pile stem limiter. After installing the reinforcement

73
 TABLE 3

Piles
Index
injection Difference
bored
pile
Estimated cost, rubles
Encluding: 803.20 672.20 +131.00
Construction of pile 803.20 285.20 +518.00
Soil stabilization at base N
387.00 --387.00
of pile
Unit estimate cost (I ms of the
pile with consideration of the 87.30 73.60 +14.24
coefficient of comparability
K c = 2.0), rubles
Consumption of materials:
reinforced concrete, m s 9.2 4.6 +4.6
cement, tons 0.15 -0.15
sodium silicate with density
1.4 g/cms, tons 3.36 --3.36
Pile dimensions:
length, m 24 12
diameter, cm 7O 70

cage with the device for injection, the pile stem is connected and when it is completed the
stabilizing solution in injected with subsequent cementing of the injection cavity and its
pressure testing. The main parameters of stabilization and solution injection conditions
are given in Table i.
Two variants of cementing were tested: the first with pressurizing the injection cavity
2 h after silicatization of the base of the pile and the second without~preliminary silicati-
zation.
The solution of cementing by a NBZ 120/40 plunger pump. The injection pressure and flow
rate of the sodium silicate solution were recorded respectively by a manometer and D"KV-20
flowmeter. A sodium silicate solution with a density of 1.16 g/cm 3 was used when stabiliz-
ing the base of the pile. The amount of solution was taken in conformity with the design
radius of stabilization, equal to 1.8 m. In this case the flow rate of the solution per i m 3
of the stabilized soil was 215 liters. The injection pressure did not exceed 0.4 MPa, and
for injecting the entire volume of stabilizer from 107 to 133 min was required.
After performing the works on stabilizing the soil below the pile foot the injection
cavity was cemented with pressure testing of the stabilized mass with a pressure of 1 MPa.
The injection pressure was gradually increased for 11-16 min, and in so doing from 185 to
320 liters of cement grout with a density of 1.20 g/cm s were fed into the cavity. Two injec-
tion piles with a length of 12.3 m and diameter of 70 om located on a stabilized base were
made by the technology described above.
For comparing the bearing capacity of injection piles supported on the stabilized base
and bored piles made by the usual method, two piles with a length of 24.3 m penetrating the
slump-prone stratum and resting on nonslumping dense clays were tested uner a static pres-
sing iQad according to [3, 4] with local flooding of the soil around the pile. The reactive
load in the test was absorbed by ancho~ piles 20 m long and 70 cm in diameter. Drainage
wells with a diameter of 25 cm and depth of 17 m were made for accelerating local flooding of
the soil around the pile. The piles being tested and the drainage wells were jointed by a
common pit 1 m deep filled with fine rubble. On the basis of experience gained, the flow
rate of water necessary for flooding the soil around the pile to a degree of saturation
G ~ 0.8 was taken as 500 m s per pile and checked by a water meter. Several piles with a
depth of 20-28 m, from which soil samples were taken every meter, were sunk for checking the
degree of saturation of the soil being flooded. The degree of saturation of the soils near
the piles was determined at the laboratory of the Volgodonsk Power Construction Trust, which
varied within 0.88-1.0. Flooding was carried out without interruption both before and during
the test.

74
 ~00 000 /200 /600 P, kN

I ,~ .j
I ,
Fig. 2. Graph of settlements S as a func-
M
12. t ' tion of the loads P for bored piles tested
at the experimental area of industrial zone
No. 3 in Volgodonsk: i) bored injection pile
on a stabilized base; 2) bored injection pile
with cementing of the gap under the foot; 3)
bored pile with a length of 24.3 m.
-

The load on the piles being tested was created by a DG-500 hydraulic jack, the reactive
force from which was transmitted through a mechanical stand to the anchor piles. The experi-
mental piles were loaded in increments of 200 kN each, each being held until conditional
stabilization (when the settlements during 2 h did not exceed 0.1 mm). The settlement of
the pile was measured with the accuracy to 0.01 mm by two 6 PAO deflectometers installed on
fixed reference devices. The results of the pressing-in tests are given in Table 2 and in
Fig. 2.

An analysis of the results obtained shows that by stabilizing the soil at the base of
the bored piles it is possible to considerably increase their bearing capacity, having re-
duced simultaneously the thickness of the slump-prone stratum and length of the piles.
After completing works on testing the injection piles, control boring was carried out
to determine the size of the zone of stabilization uner the pile foot. For this purpose
9 holes each with a depth of 17 m arranged along three vertical planes with an angle of 120 °
between them were bored by the UGB-50M rig.
It was established that the thickness of the stabilized mass was from 3.5 to 2.5 m,
decreasing along the radius from the vertical axis of the pile. The boundaries of the mass
pass at a distance of 1.8 m from the axis of the injection pile, i.e., it has the shape of
a sphere with an average radius of 1.8 m.
An investigation of Samples taken while boring the holes gave the following parameters:
uniaxial compressive strength 1.2-0.3 MPa, cohesion 0.084-0.042 MPa, angle of internal fric-
tion 27-24 °, modulus of total deformation 135-25 MPa and water stability 100%. In this case
a decrease of the values of these parameters from the injection cavity toward the edge of
the zone of stabilization was noted. Interlayers and inclusions of cement were found in
individual places while boring the holes.
As a result of comparing the technical and economic indices of the injection pile and
ordinary bored pile (Table 3) it was established that injection piles effect an economy, but
requires additionally the consumption of binders. On the whole their use reduces the unit
estimate cost of constructing 1 m s of pile by more than 14 rubles.
The works conducted show that the proposed design of the injection pile provides reli-
able contact of the latter with the zone of stabilization. This makes it possible to create
masses of stabilized soil below the pile foot of the necessary thickness and strength as
well as to redistribute the loads through them to the underlying soil layers.

LITERATURE CITED
i. I. A. Ganichev, Construction of Artificial Bases and Foundations [in Russian], Stroiizdat,
Moscow (1981).
2. M. N. Gordeev, V. N. Bugrov, B. A. Anikin, B. N. Kuzin, N. N. Isaev, S. Yu. Badeev, M. V.
Soshin, V. V. Pol'shin, and I. N. Gorokhovskaya, "Method of constructing a bored injec-
tion pile," Inventor's Certificate No. 1052625, IPC E02 5/62, Otkrytiya. Izobret., No.
41, 90 (1983).
3. SNiP II-17-77. Pile Foundations [in Russian].
4. GOST 5686-78. Piles and Cylinder Piles. Methods of Field Testing [in Russian].

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