EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF CEMENT-BASED SLURRY TRANSPORT PROCESSES IN FRACTURED LIMESTONE

Grouting is useful for reinforcement, water plugging, and anti-seepage in underground construction. However, the theoretical understanding of grouting is behind its engineering practices. To fill this gap, we performed a series of experiments in order to understand the depositional characteristics of cement-based grout and its relation to water-solid ratio, solid-solid ratio, sodium silicate content, and CaCO₃ content in fractured rocks. We used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to analyze mineral species and their distribution patterns at interfaces between fracture walls and grouts. Based on our experiments, we explored the deposition mechanisms of cement slurry in different fracturesartificial fracture apparatus was constructed from plexiglass to investigate the impact of grouting pressure, viscosity, fracture aperture, angle, and roughness on the slurry transport processes in the fractures. This allowed us to use pressure and temperature sensors and a high-speed camera to monitor and study grouting spread processes. We evaluated the accuracy of existing analytical models by comparing their performance against our measured experimental data.