VISUALIZATION FOR ENGINEERING PROPERTY OF IN-SITU LIGHT WEIGHT SOILS WITH AIR FOAMS

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to evaluate both physical and mechanical properties of in-situ light weight soil with air foams using an industrial X-ray CT scanner. The specimen used in this study was in-situ SGM (Super Geo-Material) which was a light weight soil created by mixing dredged slurry with cement and air foam. This was sampled at the trial construction site of new Kumamoto seaport, Japan. Two different materials of air orientation which were surface active agent and protein were examined at the site. First of all, the effect of different kinds of air foams on the physical property of in-situ light weight soil was discussed using the results of CT scanning, in which the distributions of the density and air foams in the soil were taken into consideration. Furthermore, as a mechanical property, a series of unconfined compression tests was conducted for the in-situ specimen, and the density evolution was also investigated by scanning of the specimen during unconfined compression. Here, the effects of both distribution and size of air foams were also clarified. Finally, the effectiveness of the industrial X-ray CT scanner in geotechnical engineering was confirmed based on all these results.