Unconfined compressive strength of loose sandy soils grouted with zeolite and cement

Cement production requires a lot of energy and is also one of the most important sources of carbon dioxide emissions. Consequently, the replacement of part of the cement with a more environmentally friendly material, such as zeolite, is of great importance. The present research involves the conducting of a series of laboratory tests on loose sand specimens ($D_r\approx 30\%$) grouted with cementitious materials (cement and zeolite) to investigate the effect of different parameters, such as the size of the sand particles, the ratio of water to cementitious materials (W/CM) and the replacement of a certain percentage of the cement in the grout with zeolite (Z), on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the grouted sand specimens. The results indicate that for all the grout W/CM and sand grain sizes, when Z is increased from zero zeolite (Z₀), the UCS initially increases. Then, after reaching an optimal amount (Z₃₀), it decreases. Moreover, increasing both the size of the sand particles and the W/CM of the grout is seen to reduce the UCS of the grouted specimens. The UCS of the grouted sand specimens increases with the equilibrium of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ with CaO elements in the grouting suspension. Finally, equations with a high performance are proposed to predict the UCS of sands grouted with zeolite-cement using a multiple regression model (MRM) and a group method of data handling (GMDH)-type neural network.