CHEMICAL SOIL STABILIZATION BY ELECTROKINESIS

Author first discusses the limits of application of chemical injections in geotechnical engineering in cases where the high pressures required to obtain good penetration may cause an appreciable structural disturbance; that the circulation of a fluid in the systems of small discontinuities of a fissured rock or through the capillary interstices of a fine-grained soil can be activated under the action of an electric field. This lead to the idea that the transport of the chemicals in the soil at relatively lower pressure can be accelerated by an electric agent. Up to a certain limit the velocity (30-45 cm/h) of the induced seepage can be considered proportional to the applied electric potential and to the resistivity of the circulating fluid. It is also interesting to note that the temperature increment taking place during the passage of the electrical current has a beneficial effect on the reactions between the injected substances and the components of the soil, and that the modifications induced in soil properties by the process are partly permanent. A block diagram of a typical installation is presented and some technical and economical data on single case of application are cited. To achieve the best results the polarity of the electrodes must be frequently inverted, and this can be easily programmed. The major cost item results from the borings, but this seems well balanced by the benefits of the treatment. The proposed method may be considered a valuable means to improve the penetrability of chemicals when the site conditions impose a limitation to the pressure; however, its applicability to the different geotechnical conditions that can be encountered in nature appears not yet exhaustively investigated. /Author/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This article is the abstract of a report written in German that appeared in Osterreichische Ingenieur-Zeitscrift V 19, N 1, Jan., 1976, pp 1-7.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Mechanical Engineers

  Two Park Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5990
• Authors:
  • Fritsch, V
• Publication Date: 1977-3

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 344
• Serial:
  • Applied Mechanics Reviews
  • Volume: 30
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accelerating agents; Chemicals; Electric current; Electrical resistivity; Electrokinetics; Pendulum tests; Pressure; Roads; Seepage; Soil stabilization; State aid
• Uncontrolled Terms: High pressure
• Old TRIS Terms: Accelerating (Process); Resistivity
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00157205
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 15 1977 12:00AM