This laboratory study examines the potential use of an anionic polyacrylamide (PAM)-based material as an environmentally sustainable additive for the stabilization of an expansive soil from South Australia.The experimental program consisted of consistency limits,sediment volume,compaction and oedometer cyclic swell-shrink tests,performed using distilled water and four different PAM-to-water solutions of Po-0.1 g/L,0.2 g/L,0.4 g/L and 0.6 g/L as the mixing liquids.Overall,the relative swelling and shrinkage strains were found to decrease with increasing number of applied swell-shrink cycles,with an 'elastic equilibrium'condition achieved on the conclusion of four cycles.The propensity for swelling/shrinkage potential reduction (for any given cycle) was found to be in favor of increasing the PAM dosage up to PD =0.2 g/L,beyond which the excess PAM molecules self-associate as aggregates,thereby functioning as a lubricant instead of a flocculant;this critical dosage was termed 'maximum flocculation dosage'(MFD).The MFD assertion was discussed and validated using the consistency limits and sediment volume properties,both exhibiting only marginal variations beyond the identified MFD of PD =0.2 g/L.The accumulated axial strain progressively transitioned from 'expansive'for the unamended soil to an ideal'neutral'state at the MFD,while higher dosages demonstrated undesirable 'contractive'states.

Amin Soltani;An Deng;Abbas Taheri;Brendan C.O'Kelly

School of Engineering,Information Technology and Physical Sciences,Federation University,Churchill,VIC 3842,Australia;School of Civil,Environmental and Mining Engineering,The University of Adelaide,Adelaide,SA,5005,Australia;Department of Civil,Structural and Environmental Engineering,Trinity College Dublin,Dublin,D02 PN40,Ireland

岩石力学与岩土工程学报（英文版）

[1]Amin Soltani;An Deng;Abbas Taheri;Brendan C.O'Kelly-.Intermittent swelling and shrinkage of a highly expansive soil treated with polyacrylamide)[J].岩石力学与岩土工程学报（英文版）,2022(01):252-261

oedometer,flocculant

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