Laboratory investigation of chemical-mechanical stabilization conditions and durability of SP sand samples under the effect of freeze-thaw periods

The occurrence of ice lenses and the subsequent melting of the ice causes a lot of damage to the beds consisting of fine sand soils every year. Volumetric changes of soil during freezing-thawing is a factor that reduces soil strength and increases deformations. In this study, several laboratory measurements are presented to investigate the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on the behavior of cylindrical sand-cement-fiber specimens. Fine-grained sand has been chosen to investigate the effects of freeze-thaw. At the same time, chemical stabilization methods of soil by mixing with cement with amounts of 2, 4, and 6% by weight of dry soil and mechanical reinforcement by adding 0, 0.5, and 1% by weight of recycled nylon fibers have been used. This study shows that the presence of fibers next to cement causes obvious changes in the stiffness, strength, and durability characteristics of the samples under the effect of freeze-thaw cycles. From the findings of this study, it can be concluded that in samples without fibers, distinct and wide cracks are observed. While, in samples armed with fibers, the cracks are smaller and distributed in a wider width. The results related to the behavior of the samples during loading showed that in the samples reinforced with fibers, failure occurred due to the pull-out of the fibers. In 7-day dry samples (without the freezing-thawing cycle effect), the compressive strength of the samples increases with the addition of fibers. In the 28-day samples, with an increase of only 0.5% of fibers with a length of 0.5cm, the unconfined compressive strength increased , and its decrease was observed after that. In all 7d and 28d dry samples, with the increase of fiber size from 0.5cm to 1 and 1.5cm, the compressive strength of the samples has a decreasing trend. Also, by adding the percentage of fibers from 0.5 to 1%, the trend of decreasing strength of the specimens can be seen.