Measuring shear strength parameters of polymer-added bentonite-sand mixtures in laboratory experiments

Abstract

In order to evaluate the shear strength parameters of an anionic polymer-added bentonite-sand mixture that was permeated with tap water, Proctor compaction tests and direct shear tests were performed on the mixture with a bentonite content of 15% by mass. The polymer content in the polymer-bentonite mixture was chosen as 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20% by mass, respectively. According to the results, maximum dry unit weight (Vdmax) first decreased as the polymer content was increased to 1% and then, increased. Vdmax of 20% polymer-added mixture and the mixture without polymer addition was measured as 17.55 and 17.28 kN/m3, respectively. Test results indicated that cohesion (c) increased and internal friction angle (ø) decreased due to polymer addition. 2% polymer addition caused an increase of 42 kPa in c but a decrease of 4.2° in ø. As the polymer content increased, maximum shear strength of the mixture (τmax) increased. τmax increased from 171.8 to 197.8 kPa as the polymer content was increased from 0 to 2%. As a result, 2% anionic polymer-added bentonite-sand mixture provided sufficient increase in the shear strength of the mixture.