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Tunnelling and
Underground Space
Technology
incorporating Trenchless
Technology Research
Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 23 (2008) 308–317
www.elsevier.com/locate/tust

Soil conditioning of sand for EPB applications: A laboratory research

Raffaele Vinai a, Claudio Oggeri a, Daniele Peila a,b,*

a
Department of Land, Environment and Geoengineering, Tunnelling and Underground Space Center, Politecnico di Torino,
Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
b
IGAG-CNR, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Received 10 April 2006; received in revised form 20 April 2007; accepted 30 April 2007
Available online 18 June 2007

Abstract

EPB tunnelling requires the application of soil conditioning to increase its field of applicability particularly for cohesionless soils.
Choosing the most suitable conditioning set for the various soils requires the use of a feasible laboratory test which can permit to define
the characteristics of the conditioned soils and provide measurable data.
A series of tests has been carried out using a laboratory screw conveyor device which was designed for this purpose and which sim-
ulates the extraction of the spoil from a pressure chamber in a similar way as in EPB tunnelling.
The tested soils were medium-grain sands with varying amounts of silt and the tested conditioned mixtures were obtained with dif-
ferent water contents and amounts of foam. A simple slump test was also used to analyze the global characteristics of the conditioned
soils.
The test has shown that the proposed laboratory procedure permits a quantitative comparison to be made between different condi-
tioning amounts and agents on the basis of measurable parameters.
 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Tunnelling; Mechanized excavation; Soil conditioning; Earth pressure balance shields; Slump test; Laboratory test

1. Introduction Soil conditioning is obtained through the injection of

Earth Pressure Balance shield tunnelling has successfully
been adopted for urban tunnelling in recent years in very
different ground conditions and at present it can be consid-
ered the most commonly used mechanized tunnelling tech-
nology, even challenging the role of the Slurry Shield both
as far as machine size and the geomechanical field of appli-
cability are concerned. This increase in the number of tun-
nels excavated by EPB machines has been possible thanks
on one hand, to the mechanical and electronic improve-
ments and on the other hand to the more effective use of
additives to condition the soils.
*
Corresponding author. Address: Department of Land, Environment
and Geoengineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24,
10129 Torino, Italy.
E-mail address: daniele.peila@polito.it (D. Peila).
foam, polymers, water and/or fillers ahead of the tunnel
face and into the bulk chamber and along the screw con-
veyor. The aim of this procedure is:
– to transform the soil into a plastic and ‘‘pulpy’’ medium,
that is able to properly transmit the pressure in the exca-
vation chamber and along the screw conveyor (Her-
renknecht, 1994; Anagnostou and Kovari, 1996;
Nomoto et al., 1999),
– to reduce the permeability of the ground (and conse-
quently to prevent water inflows, seepage destabilizing
forces and consolidation-related surface settlements),
– to reduce frictional forces (and consequently tool and
mechanical wear, as well as the required mechanical tor-
que of the cutting head and of the screw conveyor),
– to avoid adhesion effects of sticky clayey soils,

0886-7798/$ - see front matter  2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tust.2007.04.010
 R. Vinai et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 23 (2008) 308–317
– to maintain the above-mentioned characteristics over
time in order to allow safe control of the face stability
during the whole excavation step and when the machine
has to be stopped due to operational or technical reasons.
Since the use of conditioning agents is relatively recent,
very little laboratory experience on their use has been accu-
mulated and the conditioning design is often based on the
workers’ experience or according to a trial-and-error pro-
cedure at the work site.
The evaluation of the properties of the conditioned soil
should instead be assessed using laboratory tests that
should allow the properties of the conditioned soil to be
understood and measured thus permitting the design of
the optimal conditioning to be used in a specific environ-
ment, and allowing an easy comparison of the various
additives on the market.
For this reason, a laboratory device that permits the
extraction of the conditioned soil from a pressurized tank
by a screw conveyor has been designed, constructed and
tested. This is a tool able to check the ability of the soil
to control the pressure both in the bulk chamber and along
the screw conveyor.
In the first part of the research a systematic series of
slump tests was carried out with different percentages of
conditioning foam and water contents to verify whether
it is possible to find some general rules to link these two
parameters to the behaviour of the mix and whether this
test can be used for a preliminary assessment of the
conditioning.
In the second part of the research, the laboratory device
with the screw conveyor was used to check:
– The transmission of the pressure from the top plate to
the bottom of the tank. This behaviour gives an indica-
tion of the ability of the material to control and apply a
confining pressure inside the bulk chamber.
– The conditioning influence on the torque measured on
the screw conveyor which is an index of the workability
of the material and its ability to reduce the torque values
on both the EBP head and the screw conveyor.
– How the material controls the pressure inside the screw
conveyor. This is a relevant indication of the ability of
the screw conveyor to control the water pressure that
acts as an impervious plug.
In order to reduce the number of studied parameters,
the tests were carried out on a reference sand obtained
from a river quarry with rounded grains and with a fairly
regular granulometric curve but without gravel that is a
typical sand that can be found in many urban areas.
2. Tests on conditioned soil proposed and described in
technical literature
Although there is very little technical agreement regard-
ing optimal test methods to characterize conditioned soil, a
309
few tests have already been indicated (Milligan, 2000, 2001;
EFNARC, 2005; Vinai, 2006) for conditioned soil quality
assessment, some of which have been derived from com-
mon geotechnical or concrete technology measurements:
foam penetration into the ground; the mixing test; the cone
penetration test; the permeability test; the compressibility
test; the adhesion test; the shear test; the slump test and
other tests which are less frequently used such as: the flow
cone test, the segregation test, the concrete mortar flow
table. A final quantification of the conditioning treatment
is still far from being unequivocally defined. This is mainly
due to the great number of parameters and also to the great
influence of the technological features of the EPB
machines. From this point of view, only a test that is able
to simulate EPB operations and which involves both the
conditioning of the soil and the interaction between the soil
and the could truly be significant to understand the condi-
tioned soil behaviour. Although this type of test is very
complex, some large scale research tests have in fact been
carried out:
– a 1/10 scale model for EPB excavation simulation was set
up as part of the work of a National French Research
Programme (AFTES, 2001). The model consisted of a
500 mm diameter cutting head, a conical excavation
chamber, a inclined screw conveyor, a horizontal screw
conveyor, a cylindrical shield and four thrusting cylin-
ders. The soil that had to be excavated (an incoherent
and dry fine sand) was placed in a rigid 2 · 1.3 · 1.3 m
box. A loading device, using ten air cushions, allowed
an additional overburden to be simulated. The system
was instrumented with several monitoring transducers
for the driving parameters, the soil stresses and deforma-
tion control (Branque et al., 2003). The pressure in the
bulk chamber of the EPB model and in the surrounding
ground, as well as the deformation and the settlements
induced on the surface, were continuously monitored.
In this test it was observed that two parameters are able
to govern the driving of the boring machines:
 the ratio between the mass and the material extracted
from the screw conveyor and the theoretical mass;
 the pressure in the ground that has to be excavated.
Relevant indications on the optimal functioning regime
of an EPB were given in this research but very little infor-
mation on the conditioning sets was derived:
– A laboratory model of a screw conveyor device and a
full-scale EPB machine screw conveyor was used by
Bezuijen and Schaminée (2000, 2001) to study the
behaviour of conditioned sand soils.They observed that
the pressure was dissipated linearly along the conveyor,
that the screw torque was approximately constant and
that the pressure at the end of the conveyor depended
on the opening of the gate valve at the discharge point:
– A full-scale EPB screw conveyor was used by Yoshikawa
(1996) and some tests were performed using plastic soil
and with different screw speeds. He observed that a linear
pressure gradient was present in the screw conveyor.
310 R. Vinai et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 23 (2008) 308–317
– A laboratory screw conveyor apparatus, where condi-
tioned clay soils were extracted from a tank by a sub-
horizontal screw, was used by Mair et al. (2003) and
Merritt and Mair (2006) and their results have proved
to be relevant for this type of soil. The laboratory device
was made of a pressurized tank which was connected to
a 1 m long and 0.1 m diameter horizontal screw con-
veyor. The screw conveyor was instrumented in four sec-
tions, each with two load cells to measure the total
normal stress and the soil-casing interface shear stress
components and a pressure transducer to measure the
pore water pressure in the soil. Measurements of the
screw torque were also carried out. Tests can be per-
formed with this device using various pressures applied
to the soil over a wide range of screw speeds, with differ-
ent discharge outlet conditions.
From the described tests it is clear that a device which
simulates the extraction of the soil from a pressurized tank
with a screw conveyor would be a valuable tool for the def-
inition of the soil conditioning parameters in EPB tunnel-
ling and it could be used as a standardized test with the
aim to permit an easy comparison between the various con-
ditioning products and a preliminary choice of the optimal
amount of conditioning agents.
3. Conducted tests
The research involved a test programme on conditioned
granular cohesionless sand using both a slump test for a
preliminary setting of the conditioning agents and a screw
conveyor device that consists of a 800 mm high, 600 mm
high diameter cylinder tank where the conditioned ground
is pressurized and then extracted by a 1500 mm long screw
conveyor which is positioned with an angle of 30 to the
horizontal (Fig. 1) (Vinai et al., 2006). The pressures inside
the tank (top and bottom) and along the screw case (three
Fig. 1. Experimental device developed for the EPB screw conveyor
extraction simulation. Numbers refer to the installed sensors: (1)
displacement wire transducer; (2) tank top pressure cell; (3) tank bottom
pressure cell; (4) screw conveyor pressure cell 1; (5) screw conveyor
pressure cell 2; (6) screw conveyor pressure cell 3; (7) torque meter on the
screw; (8) scale.
measuring points), the plate movement, the screw torque
and the extracted material weight were recorded during
each test.
The tests were carried out on two different sands that
have the granulometric curves reported in Fig. 2. That typ-
ical siliceous homogeneous sands were obtained from a
river alluvium, mixed with different percentages of water
and foam obtained with FER (the ratio between the
obtained volume of foam and the volume of the generator
fluid: water + foaming agent) of 16 which is an average
value in tunnelling practice.
3.1. Slump tests
Slump cone tests performed on fresh concrete have
already been used to provide a evaluation of conditioned
soil quality by several authors (Kuribashi et al., 1993;
Peron and Marcheselli, 1994; Maidl, 1995; Quebaud,
1996; Quebaud et al., 1998; Bordachar and Nicolas, 1998;
Jancsecz et al., 1999; Williamson et al., 1999; Herrenknecht
and Rehm, 2002; Peña, 2003; EFNARC, 2005; Boone
et al., 2005; Langmaack, 2000; Vinai et al., 2006). For
example Quebaud et al. (1998) suggested that a slump of
12 cm is necessary to provide a mixture with the optimum
characteristics for a plastic flow in an EPB machine, while
Williamson et al. (1999) suggested 210 mm, Jancsecz et al.
(1999) 200–250 mm and Boone et al. (2005) 80–100 mm.
This type of test has the advantage of being simple to
perform and of giving an overall index of the behaviour
of the conditioned material.
Since the optimal cone fall values reported in previous
researches were directly linked with the job side where
the tests were carried out, in the present research a system-
atic test program was carried out. In order to carry out this
Fig. 2. Grain size distribution for the tested sands. The continuous line
refers to the sand used for slump tests 1–12 and all the screw conveyor
extraction tests and the dotted line refers to the material used for slump
tests 13–16.
 R. Vinai et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 23 (2008) 308–317 311

Fig. 3. Quality assessment of the tested material after the slump cone test. Key: (a) not suitable [too stiff and dry]; (b) suitable; (c) not suitable [too fluid
and wet].

tests, a previously dried defined soil volume was mixed with were identified: too stiff and dry behaviour due to insuffi-
water and foam. The mix was then poured into three stan- cient water or foam content; too fluid and wet behaviour
dard slump cones. The three cones were lifted at the same due to excessive water or foam content and suitable behav-
time, the cone falls were recorded and the overall quality of iour of the mix where the ground behaves plastically
the mix was analyzed. (Fig. 3).
The quality of the mix was defined as ‘‘suitable’’, ‘‘bor-
derline’’ or ‘‘not suitable’’ according to the plastic behav- 3.1.1. Performed tests and obtained results
iour of the material as well as the presence/absence of The results of the test campaign conducted on the refer-
free liquid around the cone. Three main behaviour fields ence sand, summarized in Table 1 and in Fig. 4 indicate
that:
Table 1
Slump tests and obtained results on soil n. 1 – the conditioned soil only showed plastic behaviour for
Test Water FIR Slump Comments some combinations of the investigated parameters
content (%) (%) (mm) (water content and FIR);
1 9.6 20 146.7 Not suitable – Too stiff and dry – when the slump cone fall was within the 150–200 mm
2 11.2 40 148.3 Suitable – Very little liquid loss range, none or little liquid draining was observed;
3 9.4 60 231.7 Not suitable – Too fluid and wet – for certain water contents (about 5%), the conditioned
4 22.3 20 221.7 Not suitable – Too fluid and high soil appeared too stiff and dry, even when large foam
liquid loss
injection ratios were used (tests 7 and 8);
5 18.2 20 195.0 Borderline – Very fluid and with
some liquid loss – for a certain water content (about 20%), the material
6 18.0 20 216.7 Borderline – Very fluid and with appeared too fluid and wet, even for low foam injection
some liquid loss ratios (test 4);
7 0 40 – Not suitable – Too dry – the tests that gave suitable results (tests 2, 9, 11 and 12)
8 0 80 – Not suitable – Too dry
were located in the area between two straight lines which
9 5.0 40 103.3 Suitable – A little too stiff and dry
10 14.0 20 145.0 Suitable – A little too dry and define, respectively, the upper threshold over which the
with some liquid loss material was too wet and fluid (tests 3 and 4), and a
11 14.3 40 195.0 Suitable – Slightly too wet lower threshold, under which the material was too dry
12 5 60 195.0 Suitable – No liquid loss and did not show the required plastic or pulpy features
The slump values are the average values of three tests. (tests 1 and 10).

Fig. 4. Parameter set area definition and optimum conditioning treatment choice.
312 R. Vinai et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 23 (2008) 308–317
Fig. 5. Effect of water content and Foam Injection Ratio on slump cone
fall.
It is therefore possible to define an area in which the
conditioning parameter sets give a suitable final mix. The
centroid of such an area could therefore be indicated as
an ‘‘optimum’’ conditioning parameter set which, for the
studied reference sand, corresponds to the following set
of parameters: FIR = 40% and water content = 10%.
In order to analyse the effect of the foam and water on
the quality of the conditioning, the results obtained from
the slump tests that gave plastic and fluid behaviour of
the mix were plotted: if the water content is plotted vs.
the cone fall, it can be seen that the obtained relationship
is nearly linear (Fig. 5) and that increasing FIR this line
moves up. Thus, a small increase in the water content leads
to a small increase in the slump cone fall and this effect is
independent of the adopted FIR.
From this result, it can be concluded that water and
foam act independently as lubricating agent and that the
lubricating mechanism is different for the two fluids: water
mobilizes an ‘‘internal’’ lubrication, acting on the finer part
(clay and silt), whereas the foam gives an additional effect,
reducing the friction between the sand grains.
The practical consequences of these results for EPB tun-
nelling procedures are that, in the case of a moderate-to-
high presence of fine sized materials, it could be useful to
inject water into the excavation chamber as was done for
example, in the excavation of the tunnels for the Milan
Railway Underground Junction (Peron and Marcheselli,
1994) whereas in the presence of coarse soil without fine
fractions, large amounts of foam should be injected (even
up to 80% or more) or a fine filler should be injected into
the ground (as in the tunnel of Lot 5 of the Turin Metro).
Table 2
Slump tests and obtained results on soil n. 2
Test Water content (%) FIR (%) Slump (mm)
13 10 40 120
14 15 40 185
15 20 40 225
16 5 40 – Not suitable – Too dry
The slump values are the average values of three tests.
In order to verify that water and foam act independently
and on different grain size elements, finer soil was added to
the reference sand and granulometric curve 2 was obtained.
A new test programme was therefore undertaken to check
the new optimum water content, keeping the FIR constant
and equal to 40%. Table 2 summarizes the test parameters
and the obtained results . Form a comparison of the results
of the two test campaigns, it can be seen that:
– When w = 10%, both for the reference sand and for soil
n. 2, the mixes show satisfactory behaviour, as far as
plasticity and consistency are concerned.
– When w = 15%, for soil n. 2, the mix shows suitable
behaviour while for soil n. 1 (test 11), the mix is too fluid
and wet. This result confirms that if the soil has more
fines, a higher water content is necessary to obtain suit-
able behaviour.
– When w = 5%, for soil n. 2, the mix shows too stiff and
dry behaviour, while for the reference sand (test 9), the
mix has suitable behaviour, even thought slightly dry.
This result again shows that finer particles change the
global behaviour of the conditioned mix and require a
higher water content to obtain optimal behaviour. This
last result can be confirmed from the analysis of the data
that were obtained during the excavation of the Milan
Railway Junction tunnel (Peron and Marcheselli, 1994)
where the EPB machine excavated a gravely soil with
an important silt content (20%). It was necessary to
inject a certain amount of water into the excavation
chamber, in the drive above the water table, in order
to plasticize the soil while in the drive below the water
table, the larger amount of water led to the necessity
of injecting less foam to obtain suitable plasticity of
the soil.
3.2. Screw conveyor device tests
The tests with the screw conveyor device required a con-
ditioned sample of about 400 kg which was obtained
through the following procedure: a volume of 25 kg of soil
with a defined water content was placed into a mixer bowl
and the foam was added. As soon as the mix was ready it
was poured into a tank and this operation was repeated
until the tank was full. Subsequently, the upper plate was
positioned and pushed down by the piston until the desired
test pressure in the tank was reached (Vinai et al., 2006).
Comments
Suitable
Suitable – Foam can be seen on the ground after the test
Not suitable – Very fluid, with some liquid loss and the foam can be seen on the ground after
the test
 R. Vinai et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 23 (2008) 308–317 313

The screw conveyor was then started and the material
was collected at the screw discharge point where it was then
weighted. The revolving speed of the screw was kept con-
stant at a value of 6 rpm for the whole test programme,
since this value was similar to the values normally used
in real EPB tunnelling sites.
The test was stopped when the piston reached its maxi-
mum stroke. Slump tests were performed on the material
that came out with the screw as well as on the soil in the tank
at the end of the test in order to check whether the material
properties had changed during the extraction process.
The following data were monitored during the test: the
pressure distribution in the tank, the required torque for
rotating the screw conveyor, the upper plate displacement
gradient, the discharged weight gradient and the trend of
the pressure values along the screw conveyor.
The shape and value of these parameters permitted the
suitability of the conditioning amount to be evaluated
and different parameter sets to be compared.
3.2.1. Performed tests and obtained results
Four different test were carried out on sand n. 1 using
the following test parameters:
1. Conditioning close to the optimum values as defined in
the slump test programme: a water content equal to
10%, FIR of 40%, FER of 16 and a pressure of
90 kPa applied to the top plate.
Table 3
Summary of the results obtained from the screw conveyor test campaign
Test set Theoretical pressure (kPa) Measured pressure (kPa)
Top Bottom
1 90 80 95
2 60 65 75
3 60 65 80
4 9 150 100
Key: Theoretical pressure = pressure in the tank derived from the pressure in the cylinder; Measured pressure = pressure measured by the cells located
respectively on the top and on the bottom of the tank; Torque = torque acting on the shaft of the screw conveyor; Cell X = pressure cell on the screw case
(cell numeration goes from the closest to the furthest from the tank).
2. A too dry conditioning: a water content equal to 5%,
FIR of 40%, FER of 16 and a pressure of 60 kPa applied
to the top plate.
3. A too wet conditioning: a water content equal to 20%,
FIR of 40%, FER of 16 and a pressure of 60 kPa applied
to the top plate.
4. Saturated sand with no conditioning and a pressure of
90 kPa applied to the top plate.
The most relevant measured data are summarized in
Table 3. If these results are compared, the positive effect
of the conditioning on the efficiency and the performances
of the screw conveyor device can clearly be seen and the
device permits to highlight the positive effect of condition-
ing using measurable parameters. The behaviour of the
conditioned soil can be therefore assessed and the different
conditioning amount can be compared.
The pressure in the tank, using the optimal conditioned
material (set n. 1), showed a regular trend and it was closed
to the theoretical value (Fig. 6) while, when the dry mate-
rial (set n. 2), the wet material (set n. 3) and the saturated
sand (set n. 4) (Fig. 7) were used, it was more difficult to
control the pressure applied by the upper plate (particu-
larly for set n. 4) and the values were irregular during the
test. As far as parameter set n. 2 is concerned, the pressure
distribution matched the theoretical prediction very well
but the fluctuations around the mean value were due to
the difficulties involved in controlling the pressure since
Torque (N m) Cell 1 (kPa) Cell 2 (kPa) Cell 3 (kPa)
6–10 20–28 12–17 4–6
19 17 12 5
3 26 13 4
30–40 4–8 4–6 2–4

Fig. 6. Pressures measured in the tank with the conditioned set of parameters n. 1. The bottom cell is located on the bottom of the tank while the top cell is
located below the upper plate that apply the pressure to the conditioned sand.
314 R. Vinai et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 23 (2008) 308–317

Fig. 7. Pressures measured in the device tank with conditioned set of parameters n. 4 (saturated sand). It is evident that the values are very irregular and
higher than the theoretical one and that parameter set n. 1 and the top cell (below the upper plate) give higher values than the theoretical ones due to the
irregular behaviour of the material during the test.

the material was too stiff. These data are relevant for a cor-
rect choice of the conditioned material in EPB applications,
as one of the required qualities of the conditioned soil is to
be able to apply and to transmit the pressure inside the
bulk chamber. Therefore, the closer the data are to the the-
oretical values, the better the behaviour of the conditioned
soil is.
The screw torque trends show that, for the too dry con-
ditioned soil (set n. 2), the measured values were higher
than the ones obtained from the optimum conditioning soil
(set n. 1), but they were slightly lower (but smoother) than
the ones obtained with saturated sand. The torque value
recorded during the test carried out with set n. 3, after an
initial peak, was very low since the screw rotated inside a
mud rather than inside a plastic material. The peak was
related to a flow-priming phenomenon: as soon as the
material reached the discharging point, the torque value
showed an important decrease that was due to a flow in
the material rather than an extraction with the screw con-
veyor (Fig. 8). This parameter could therefore be used as
an index to quantify whether a material is correctly condi-
tioned, with reference to the reduction in the requested tor-
que, both at the EPB head and on the screw conveyor.
The pressure plate lowering during the test was regular
with the optimal conditioned soil, since the screw conveyor
extracted efficiently the soil, while it was irregular and dif-
ficult to control when using the too dry and the too wet
soils and also with the saturated sand. When the test was
carried out with the ‘‘too wet’’ parameters (set n. 3), the soil
came out earlier (with reference to the moment when the
pressure is applied by the top plate) than in the other tests,
since the material was pushed out rather than dragged from
the screw flights.
The pressures along the screw case were higher and
more regular during the extraction of the conditioned
materials than during the extraction of the saturated soil
(Figs. 9 and 10) and they decreased more regularly from
the tank to the discharge point. This effect was evident with
the optimal conditioning, while some irregularities were
recorded for the too stiff and too wet conditioned soils.

Fig. 8. Measured torque values.

 R. Vinai et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 23 (2008) 308–317
Fig. 9. Comparison of the pressure measured along the screw conveyor measured for the saturated sand (a) and for the optimal conditioning set of
parameters (b).
The measured values indicated that the pressure dissipa-
tion, for the optimal conditioning set had a mean ratio of
about 2.8 kPa/flight, which is in good agreement with the
values usually indicated for the design of a screw conveyor.
A regular decrease in the pressure inside the screw con-
veyor is an index that it has been properly filled and that
the pressure in the tank that is correctly dissipated, as
desired when working with an EPB below the water table.
The optimum conditioned material (set n. 1) maintained
its workability after the extraction, since the cone falls for
the slump tests performed at the end were in good agree-
ment with the data obtained from the slump test campaign
and the conditioned material did not lose water during the
extraction, as can be seen from the measurements on the
sampled material which confirmed that the extracted mate-
rial had the same water content as before the test.
4. Conclusions
EPB tunnelling requires the application of soil condi-
tioning to obtain a correct excavation control particularly
when working in complex choesionless soils. However, it
can be observed that only a limited number of internation-
ally recognized standards and/or guidelines are available to
asses soil conditioning.
315
The choice of the optimal conditioning amount and a
comparison between the various types of conditioning
products can be made using the simple slump tests or a spe-
cifically designed laboratory device where the conditioned
soil is extracted from a pressurized tank using a screw con-
veyor that properly simulates the real condition found in
an EPB machine.
The systematic application of the slump test to two ref-
erence sands has shown that suitable behaviour (plastic and
‘‘pulpy’’) is only found for some water content and FIR
combinations and that a slump cone fall of about 150–
200 mm is an index of a suitable mix, as is often indicated
in technical literature. Furthermore, the test is simple and
quick, but it obviously only permits a qualitative descrip-
tion of the behaviour of the conditioned material through
an observation of the shape and conditions of the slump
cone and only a preliminary definition of the conditioning
amount can therefore be obtained.
On the other hand, the screw conveyor device that was
specifically designed and used permits a quantitative eval-
uation of the properties of the conditioned soils and a
simple and clear comparison to be made between different
conditioning sets. The carried out tests have shown that it
is possible to measure the capacity of the conditioned soil
to control and apply a pressure both inside the pressure
316 R. Vinai et al. / Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 23 (2008) 308–317
Fig. 10. Comparison of the pressure measured along the screw conveyor as measured for the too dry conditioned set of parameters (a) and for the too wet
conditioning set of parameters (b).
tank and along the screw conveyor, thus permitting the
best FIR to be chosen before starting the EPB machine
excavation. An uniform pressure reduction can be
observed along the screw conveyor when testing a cor-
rectly conditioned soil: the screw is completely filled and
it permits the control of the tank pressure. On the con-
trary if a saturated sand or a too wet mix are tested the
measured pressures along the screw conveyor are practi-
cally uniform.
Important differences are also observed by comparing
the screw conveyor torques measured using different mixes:
the torque values measured when testing a suitable mix are
less than 25% of the one measured with a saturated sand or
a too dry mix.
From these data, it appears that the use of a device that
is able to simulate the extraction of the material from a
pressurized tank at a laboratory scale is a good tool to help
job site managers and designers to carry out round robin
tests with different sets of conditioning parameters to asses
the best conditioning amount to be used on a job site.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks are due to Prof. S. Pelizza for his sugges-
tions and comments and to Dr. D. Gallina and Dr. L. Bor-
io who assisted with the experimental work performed
during their MSc thesis.
The work reported in this paper was performed within a
PhD research project that was supported by MAPEI SpA
and by the Italian Ministry of University and Research –
PRIN 2006.
The authors have contributed equally to the develop-
ment of this research.
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