Diffusion Model of Cement Slurry in Porous Media Considering Porosity Variation and Percolation Effect

Abstract

The porosity of porous media is a key factor affecting cement slurry diffusion. In this paper, a theoretical model of cement slurry diffusion in porous media considering the variation of porosity is proposed. The model is validated through comparison with the experimental results in the literature. The influence of injection parameters (i.e., the water–cement ratio and the pore fractal dimension) on the porosity and strength of porous media is analyzed. The results indicate that: under the same pore fractal dimension, the porosity of the specimen increases gradually with the increase in diffusion distance, and the rate increases rapidly in the later stage. However, when the fractal dimension of porosity increases to 2.1, the porosity of the consolidated body after grouting does not change with the diffusion distance. The water–cement ratio also affects the porosity of the sample. At a distance below 1.0 m, the sample porosity is larger at a larger water–cement ratio of 1.5. When the distance is more than 1.0 m, the smaller the porosity decreases with increasing water–cement ratios. With the increase in distance, the compressive strength of the specimen first decreases slowly, and then rapidly from 90 kPa to 0 kPa. This is further verified by the pore variation law obtained by SEM. The model is applied to selecting grouting parameter design in road maintenance. The pavement deflection after grouting is effectively reduced, verifying the theoretical model’s applicability.

Keywords

• percolation effect
• cement slurry
• porous medium
• permeability
• fractal dimension