IMPROVEMENTS IN GROUTING work in rock and soil and is primarily used to
TECHNOLOGY USING MICROSILICA change or improve the physical properties of a
Oddny Jørgensen, Per Fidjestøl
Elkem ASA Materials
Injection is often an important part of
construction in rock and soil, primarily used to
prevent water leakages. Over the last few years,
injection has also become more used for
strengthening/stabilising the ground, i.e. to
improve the quality of the rock where problems
with safety are caused by falling rock, or to
strengthen the surrounding structure in order to
reduce the extent of necessary support. Most
injection is done with cement-based grouts,
while for very fine cracks or impermeable soil,
chemical grouts may be required.
A new product - GroutAid® additive, based on
Elkem Microsilica® - has been developed for
use in combination with microcement- and
cement-based grouts. The use of this product
will increase the efficiency of the injection,
because both fresh and hardened properties of
the cement-based grouts are improved. Cement-
based injection will be possible in finer soils and
cracks than what has been possible until now,
interesting with respect to both costs and the
environment. One of the main purposes of the
product is to improve the quality of treated soil or
rock, so that construction can be performed
safer.
INTRODUCTION
Injection is an important part of construction
material, such as permeability, durability,
strength or deformation properties. The term
injection covers a number of methods and
materials for different purposes.
A common injection method is permeation
grouting, where grout is pumped into a
geological structure under pressure, but without
disturbing the formation, in order to tighten or
strengthen the soil or the rock. Due to relatively
low cost and good availability, most of the
permeation grouting today is done with cement-
based injection grouts.
The advantages of using microsilica in cement-
based systems are well known from concrete
technology, where typical benefits are a reduced
tendency to bleeding and segregation, stronger
and less permeable concrete, increased
durability and resistance towards chemical
attack. Several of these parameters are
important also for injection grouts, and therefore
a microsilica-based product for use in
combination with cement-based injection grouts
has been developed.
The use of microsilica for injection is known from
the "Micron-S" system, described in (1, 2). In
this system, developed by the French contractor
Bachy, microsilica is used in combination with
slaked lime. This paper, however, only considers
cement-based injection materials
MICROSILICA FOR INJECTION
GroutAid® additive is based on special qualities
of Elkem Microsilica®, so selected and quality
controlled that the coarse-particle (3ìm) content
is extremely small, and developed especially to
improve cement-based injection. When
compared with microcements, the microsilica
particles are extremely fine, with more than 90%
less than 1 ìm. There are several important
aspects such as there is a strong stabilising
effect on the grout. and the penetration depth is
substantially increased.
Since it will be possible to use cement-based
injection in finer soil and in finer cracks than
what has been possible until now, there may be
a reduced need for chemical grouts. This makes
the concept presented here interesting also with
respect to costs and environment.
Stability
To obtain a successful injection, a stable, non-
segregating grout is considered beneficial.
According to (3), an injection grout is defined as
stable if the bleeding is less than 2%, while in (4)
the limit is said to be 5% after 2 hours. Stable
grouts will give cracks and voids a more
complete filling, which in turn could lead to less
need for injection. Important parameters to
determine the stability of an injection grout are
bleeding and fluid loss.
Even if the water separation is low, expelling
water from the grout is possible. This indicates
how stable a grout is at a certain pressure
gradient. In (3) it is suggested that the fluid-loss
of a stable injection grout is less than 100 cm
after 30 minutes, while for an unstable grout the
duration time is less than 30 minutes and/or the
fluid-loss well above 100 cm. The injection
grouts that can be produced using this new
concept can be very thin, so the authors feel that
the duration time is probably more important
than the actual volume of expelled water before
the test stops. The internal stability caused by
the additive promotes improved fluid-loss
control, by the force of attraction between water
and solids and perhaps by reducing the
permeability of the initial cement filter cake.
Water in pure cement grouts is expelled in a
relatively short time, while grouts based on
GroutAid additive are stable and retain water for
the full duration time of 30 minutes, even at
water/powder ratios as high as 3.0. These
results indicate that a microsilica-based grout
will resist separation due to pressure much
better than a conventional grout.
Penetration
In the laboratory the penetration ability of the
injection grouts into sand has been tested
according to the method described in the
appendix. While the results obviously cannot be
directly transformed into penetration depth in soil
or rock, the method distinguishes between, and
characterises different grouts.
Addition of GroutAid® additive provides a large
improvement of the penetration of injection
grouts, at equal dry content (same water/powder
ratios). The most likely explanation is that the
modified grout is much more stable, resulting in
minimal bleeding and sedimentation, and thus,
no blocking. Since water is not expelled during
the injection, the solids are not settled out and
deposited in cracks or pores close to the
borehole, so that a homogenous grout flows into
the formation.
As mentioned above, one possible consequence
of the stabilising effect of GroutAid® additive, is
grouts with higher water/powder ratios. The
viscosity of a grout decreases as the
water/powder ratio increases, and the stable
microsilica-based grouts with high water/powder
ratios and low viscosity, show much improved
penetration compared with ordinary stable
cement-based grouts with water/powder ratios
around 0.8.
Compressive strength
A method for measurement of compressive
strength of injected sand is described in the
appendix. As for the measurement of
penetration into sand, the results cannot
necessarily be transformed directly into strength
of injected soil or rock in practice, but they give
useful information about the properties of the
different grouts, and can be used to distinguish
between them.
From use in concrete it is very well known that
microsilica reacts with the calcium hydroxide
that forms during the hydration of cement. This
creates an increased amount of binder, which
provides strength and durability. In addition, the
small microsilica particles provide an improved
packing of the particles in an injection grout, and
improve the interface between grout and sand
particles or rock. The compressive strength of a
grout based on cement and GroutAid® additive
is 1.5 to 2 times higher than that of a pure
cement grout.
OTHER BENEFITS OF USING A The Halland Ridge
MICROSILICA-BASED ADDITIVE IN A GROUT
Durability
When cement-based injection grouts are
exposed to chemical attack, it is normally in the
form of leaching of calcium hydroxide. Since
microsilica reacts with, and binds, the easily
soluble calcium hydroxide, the use of GroutAid®
additive will reduce this leaching. The resistance
to leaching will ensure a lasting effect of the
injection.
Economy
- by increasing the distance between the
injection holes, thus making it possible to reduce
the number of holes to be drilled.
- by drilling longer holes, making it possible to
increase the number
of drill and blast sequences between each
injection.
In addition, materials' costs can be reduced
because grouts with higher water/powder ratios,
but still stable, can be used. Experiences from
practice also show that the use of GroutAid®
additive in a grout makes cleaning of the
equipment easier, in comparison to a pure
cement-based grout. This can be explained by
the improved stability, and thus, less settlement
in vessels, pumps and hoses.
Environment
REFERENCE PROJECTS
The Bjorøy subsea tunnel
Tunnel under the National theatre
SUMMARY REFERENCES
Fidjestøl, P., Dingsøyr, E., Gandais, M., Marchini,
H. "Microsilica-based grouts for ground injection".
1. Presented at CANMET/ACI International
Workshop on Silica Fume in Concrete.
Washington, USA, 1991.
Sherwood, D.E., Gandais, M. "Neutral mineral
micro particle grout and its application in recovery
2. of a collapsed tunnel in Switzerland". Proceedings
Conference on Grouting in the Ground. London,
UK, 1992.
"Håndbok nr. 1 - Fjellinjeksjon" Norwegian Group
3.
of Rock Mechanics, 1995.
International Society for Rock Mechanics,
4. Commission on Rock Grouting Final Report, May
1995.
Johansen, E.D. "Bjorøy subsea road tunnel,
tunnelling through a sandzone". Presented at the
5.
Annual Meeting of the Norwegian Group of Rock
Mechanics. Oslo, Norway, 1995.
APPENDIX - TEST METHODS
Methods for measurement of stability
Bleeding
When an injection grout is allowed to sit for a
period of time prior to set, sedimentation occurs.
The settling depends on time, the fineness of the
cement and the water/powder ratio.
Sedimentation reduces the filling of cracks or
voids, which in turn increases the permeability.
Fluid loss
The grout is placed in a filter press cell as shown
in figure 3, and the filtrate loss at 100 psi (7
bars) differential pressure is measured across a
standard filtration medium. The duration of the
test is 30 minutes, and the filtrate volume (F) is
noted. If all of the filtrate passes through the
screen in less than 30 minutes, the following
equation can be used to calculate a hypothetical
F:
Method for measurement of penetration into
sand
The penetration of an injection grout into sand is
measured according to a method developed by
Elkem, based on previous work by SIF Bachy. A
plexiglass column with a length of 900 mm and
inner diameter 42 mm, is filled with a certain
amount of sand and placed horizontally. First
water is pumped through the sand, than the
injection grout follows. The flow rate is 16
litres/hour. Penetration depth and injection
pressure is registered every 15 seconds.
Maximum injection pressure is 6 bars.

Normally the sand used is a quality called

Silversand 17 or 20, with a particle size of 0-0.50
mm, and a d of 0.17 and 0.20 mm, respectively.

Method for measurement of compressive

strength
To measure compressive strength of injected
sand, the grout is pumped through a coarser
sand than the one used for the penetration test.
The sand used has a particle size of 0.25-0.50
mm. This is to ensure that the whole length of
the sand column is filled with grout. The grout is
allowed to harden in the column. After 28 days
the column is cut into 9 cylinders of 90 mm.
Sulfur mortar is used to make parallel endcaps,
and the cylinders are tested with loading rate
according to NS3668 in a compression testing
machine.