Experimental Study on the Impermeability of Ferronickel Slag Powder Soil-Cement in Marine Environments

Abstract

To study the impact of ferronickel slag powder on the permeability of soil-cement, a pressurized permeability device was used to conduct a permeability test with ferronickel slag powder in a clean water environment and a marine environment. The changes to the soil-cement’s permeability under different admixture conditions of ferronickel slag powder was measured, and its pore structure was analyzed by using Mercury Intrusion Porosimeter (MIP).The results showed that an admixture of ferronickel slag powder can improve its impermeability in both a clean water environment and a marine environment, especially in the marine environment. When the admixture of ferronickel slag powder exceeds 20%, the impact of the increased amount of ferronickel slag powder on the impermeability of soil-cement gradually becomes smaller. In this experiment, the admixture of ferronickel slag powder range value was selected based on the specification, and the optimum admixture of ferronickel slag powder obtained in the study was 40%. From the MIP test, we discovered that the ferronickel slag powder mixed into soil-cement can exert a micro-aggregate effect and actively reduce the most probable pore diameter and total porosity of soil-cement and enhance its resistance to seawater erosion. More references for engineering construction in offshore environments can be provided by the study.