The effect of nano-clay stabilizing treatment on the real excavation wall failure: A case study

Abstract

The expansion of urbanity and thereby, demand for residential areas have made it necessary to carry out excavation operations in most cases of construction. In this respect, the most significant challenge that geotechnical engineering faces is that many influential factors affect the performance of excavating methods. Hence, selecting a suitable stabilization method for the excavation wall can certainly prevent financial and life-threatening risks. Meanwhile, nano-material as one of the stabilizer materials remains the central part of improving soil characteristics. In the current paper, the wall of a real excavation, which is stabilized with nano-clay injection, is studied to perceive how modern procedures affect soil slope resistance. For this purpose, the samples extracted from different boreholes of the site are prepared for the tests with and without different percentages of nano-clay for assessing its effects on the soil parameters. It was proved that 7% weight concentration for a nano-clay, which was injected through nine different boreholes and controlled by the results of the permeability test and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imaging, was a sufficient amount. The loading on stabilized and non-stabilized excavation walls demonstrated that the nano-clay addition affected the strength of the excavation wall significantly by as much as about 70%. Ultimately, nano-clay injection and soil nailing were compared economically.