Acta Geotechnica

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-021-01415-2 (0123456789().,-volV)(0123456789().
,- volV)

RESEARCH PAPER

Strength and stiffness of compacted chalk putty–cement blends

Bruna Zakharia Hoch1 • Andrea Diambra2 • Erdin Ibraim2 • Lucas Festugato1 • Nilo Cesar Consoli1

Received: 13 February 2021 / Accepted: 9 November 2021

 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
Chalk breaks easily when subjected to human action such as mechanical handling, earthworks operations or pile instal-
lation. These actions break the cemented structure of chalk, which turns into a degraded material known as putty, with
lower strength and stiffness than the intact chalk. The addition of Portland cement can improve the behaviour of chalk
putties. Yet, there are no studies determining the tensile strength of chalk putty–cement blends, the initial stiffness
evolution during the curing time and other design parameters such as friction angle and cohesion of this material. This
paper addresses this knowledge gap and provides an interpretation of new experimental results based on the dimensionless
index expressed as the ratio between porosity and volumetric content of cement (g/Civ) or its exponential modification (g/
Civa). This index aids the selection of the amount of cement and density for key design parameters of compacted chalk
putty–cement blends required in geotechnical engineering projects such as road foundations and pavements, embankments,
and also bored concrete pile foundations.

Keywords Chalk putty  Curing time  Portland cement  Stiffness  Stress–strain–strength

Abbreviations f Frequency
C0 Effective cohesive intercept G0 Initial shear modulus
C Cement content (expressed in relation to mass of Gs Specific gravity
dry chalk putty) Gsec Secant stiffness modulus
Cc Coefficient of curvature P0 Effective mean stress
Cu Coefficient of uniformity q Deviator stress
Civ Volumetric cement content (expressed in relation qt Splitting tensile strength
to the total specimen volume) qu Unconfined compressive strength
d Travel distance R2 Coefficient of determination
D50 Mean particle diameter T Wave period
tp Travel time
Vs Wave velocity
es Shear strain
& Nilo Cesar Consoli ev Volumetric strain
consoli@ufrgs.br
k Wave velocity
Bruna Zakharia Hoch q Soil specific mass
brunahoch@gmail.com
cd Dry unit weight
Andrea Diambra cs Unit weight of solids
andrea.diambra@bristol.ac.uk
g Porosity
Erdin Ibraim g/Civ Porosity–cement index
erdin.ibraim@bristol.ac.uk
u0 Effective friction angle
Lucas Festugato
lucas@ufrgs.br
1
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre,
Brazil
2
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol,
Bristol, UK

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1 Introduction
Chalk is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed pri-
marily of calcite and formed from 200 to 300 m deep in the
sea during the Cretaceous period [18]. This material
exhibits high porosity, and the strength of intact chalk
comes from the seafloor compaction, which creates
cementation among the particles, producing inter-granular
friction and inter-granular molecular bonding [18, 35, 45].
Chalk deposits occur in southern England, covering about
15% of its surface area, and are also found in northern
Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Scotland, Eastern Poland,
Iraq and southwestern Siberia [12, 18, 45].
The chalk’s intergranular structure may break, which
results in the formation of silt and silty-clay-sized granular
material, known as ‘putty’ (i.e. [21, 40]. The term ‘chalk
putty’ is also referred to ‘chalk slurry’, ‘remoulded chalk’
and ‘reconstituted chalk’, and all forms have in common
the loss of cement bonding between grains that is present in
the intact chalk. Chalk putty is often associated with
Mundford Grade V/VI or CIRIA grade D (CIRIA publi-
cation C594 by [47], which consists in ‘structureless or soft
chalk containing small lumps of intact chalk’ [16]. Some
putties are derived from a natural process, but most of them
are the result of human actions such as the handling the
intact chalk during engineering projects [18] or from pile
installation (i.e. [19, 48]).
Chalk is also one of the major sources of earthworks
material, being used in the construction of embankments
for railways and highways [47]. However, various prob-
lems have been reported regarding the performance of the
completed fills including excessive consolidation settle-
ments, inundation collapse phenomena, cracking or slope
failures due to transformation in to the ‘‘putty’’ state
[21, 40, 47, 50]. These are related with chalk destructura-
tion and/or creation of pulverised chalk, which would
degrade mechanical properties especially upon ‘‘wetting’’,
during earthworks handling and operation [47].
The use of cementitious addition materials combined
with mechanical stabilisation through compaction is a well-
recognised technique for improvement in the mechanical
properties of soils—such as strength, stiffness, permeabil-
ity and durability [54, 55], and [43]. The stabilisation of
chalk with quicklime has been successfully adopted during
the embankment construction for the TGV (high-speed
railway) routes in France [39]. The treated soil was asso-
ciated with soil pulverisation in this case, and the main
reaction was the carbonation of the quicklime (not the
pozzolanic reaction).
Recent research by Consoli et al. [34] also reveals the
advantages of using Portland cement for the improvement
in compacted chalk putties, resulting in an increase in the
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Acta Geotechnica
unconfined compressive strength, initial stiffness after
7 days of curing time and increased durability. However,
no dosage formulation relating to the mechanical behaviour
of compacted chalk-cement mixtures is available and no
studies determining the tensile strength of chalk putties, the
stiffness evolution during the curing time and the design
parameters such as friction angle and cohesion intercept
exist. This paper presents a set of new experimental result
to fill this knowledge gap, and the results are analysed in
conjunction with those previously published by Consoli
et al. [34]. Interpretation of the experimental results uses
the methodology introduced by Consoli et al. [26, 27] and
further explored by Consoli et al. [29, 31, 32] and Diambra
et al. [37], based on the dimensionless ratio between
porosity and volumetric content of cement (g/Civa), where
the porosity (g) is defined as the ratio of volume of voids to
the total volume of the specimen, the volumetric content of
cement (Civ) is defined as the ratio of volume of cement to
the total volume of the specimen and a is an exponent
depending on the material types and was found to be equal
to 0.28 for soils containing fines and Portland cement.
Relationship linking this ratio to compressive and tensile
strength and small strain stiffness are provided. It is
believed that interpretation within this framework can help
the selection of density and cementation content to be used
in engineering projects, such as road foundation, embank-
ments or, possibly, help the understanding of strengthening
mechanism around pile foundation (e.g. bored or CFA
piles) in chalk.
2 Experimental program
2.1 Materials
The chalk soil was collected from St Nicholas at Wade,
Kent (United Kingdom). Bialowas et al. [13] and Consoli
et al. [34] investigated chalk from the same location. In
addition, this site was recently used for pile and cone
penetration tests as reported by [17, 19, 20, 36, 41].
This chalk belongs to the Upper Cretaceous chalks with
typical index properties of the Senonian formation [13, 14].
The material is almost completely composed of calcium
carbonates, with less than 2% impurities [13, 14], which is
coherent with literature for upper chalks from southern
England [12, 15, 22]. The chalk is classified as a grade B2/
B3 medium density [13, 14] or as CIRIA Grade A/B with
low to medium density [47].
Pieces of intact chalk (Fig. 1a) were milled to well-
graded sandy silt sizes (ML) [6] with the help of a mortar
and pestle (Fig. 1b) to simulate the degradation from
mechanical handling or earthworks operation. They were
oven-dried for 24 h at a constant temperature of 100 C.
Acta Geotechnica

Fig. 1 a Lumps of intact chalk and b chalk milled to sandy silt size

The particle size distribution was determined using sieves chalk putty/cement mixtures during characterisation and
[6] and by sedimentation [8]. mechanical tests.
The coefficient of uniformity (Cu) and the coefficient of
curvature (Cc) of the milled chalk are equal to 8.57 and 2.2 Specimens preparation and testing methods
0.09, respectively. The physical characteristics including
the Atterberg limits [9] and the specific gravity (Gs) of the Cylindrical specimens 50 mm diameter and 100 mm
crushed chalk putty are summarised in Table 1. Dynamic height were used in the tests. The preparation was carried
compaction test (standard Proctor) conducted according to out by weighing each component (chalk, cement and water)
ASTM D698 [5] shows that for the optimum moisture on a 0.01 g resolution scale. The first materials to be mixed
content of 27% (at 93% saturation) the highest dry unit were the chalk and the cement with the aid of a spoon.
weight reached is 15.3 kN/m3. Finally, water was added and mixed until the blend became
High early strength (Type III) Portland cement [11] was homogeneous. The optimum moisture content of 27% was
used as chalk putty cementation agent, and since its adopted and also checked once the mixing process was
strength increases rapidly in time, this resulted in a reduced completed and before the sample formation.
curing time to seven days. The specific gravity (Gs) of the The blend was then statically compacted into three
cement is 3.15. Distilled water was incorporated in the layers inside a cylindrical mould, each layer until the target
soil density was reached. The entire moulding process of a
specimen took approximately 40 min. After extrusion from
Table 1 Physical properties of the chalk putty the mould, the specimen was weighted and its dimensions
were measured with precisions of ± 0.01 g and ± 0.1
Liquid limit (%) 24
mm, respectively. The specimen was immediately wrapped
Plastic limit (%) 21
in a plastic film to avoid variations in moisture content.
Plasticity index (%) 3
They were stored in the laboratory and cured at a controlled
Specific gravity 2.8
temperature of 23 ± 2 C. The porosity (g) is given by
Coarse sand (2.0 mm \ diameter \ 4.75 mm) (%) 9
Eq. (1)
Medium sand (0.425 mm \ diameter \ 2.0 mm) (%) 22
Fine sand (0.075 mm \ diameter \ 0.425 mm) (%) 3
Silt (0.002 mm \ diameter \ 0.075 mm) (%) 65
Clay (diameter \ 0.002 mm) (%) 1 Table 2 Splitting tensile strength specimens
Mean particle diameter, D50 (mm) 0.035
Portland cement content (%) Dry unit weight (kN/m3)
Maximum dry unit weight for standard Proctor 15.3
compaction effort (kN/m3) 13.3 14.3 15.3
Optimum moisture content for standard Proctor 27
compaction effort (%) 3 CP-3-13.3 CP-3-14.3 CP-3-15.3
USCS class ML (sandy 5 CP-5-13.3 CP-5-14.3 CP-5-15.3
silt) 7 CP-7-13.3 CP-7-14.3 CP-7-15.3

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Fig. 2 a Bender element installed in the top cap and b top and bottom cap with transmitter and receiver bender elements

Fig. 3 a Extrusion of specimen, b moulded specimen with bender wrapped in plastic film and c specimen, function generator, amplifier and
computer used to initial stiffness measurements

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Fig. 4 Example of transmission of S-waves, read through the PicoScope software

(" #
C 
cd 1 100
g ¼ 100  100 C
þ ð1Þ
1 þ 100 cs chalk csC
where C is defined by the ratio between the mass of cement
and the mass of dry chalk, cd represents the dry density of
the specimen and cschalk and csC represent the unit weight
of solids for chalk putty and Portland cement, respectively.
2.3 Splitting tensile strength tests
Splitting tensile strength tests were conducted on 7-day
cured samples following ASTM C496 [10]. Specimens
were immersed in water for 24 h prior to testing to elimi-
nate the suction effects as recommended by Consoli et al.
[28].
Specimens were moulded at dry unit weights of
15.3 kN/m3 (maximum for standard Proctor compaction
effort), 14.3 kN/m3 and 13.3 kN/m3. Portland cement
contents of 3%, 5% and 7% were adopted according to the
practice [25, 32, 49]. The characteristics of the specimens
)
moulding process, so the first measurements were taken
right after the extrusion of the sample. The bender element
penetrated 10.5 mm the specimen. Measurements were
made frequently in the first few hours and every 24 h after
the first day.
The bender element was composed by a piezoelectric
sheet surrounded by a rigid epoxy resin (applied with the
aid of an acrylic mould) that electrically isolates and pro-
tects the sensor from the contact with soil and water. These
sensors were attached to the top and bottom caps used to
mould the specimens (Fig. 2).
The bottom cap (with the bender element attached) was
set on at the beginning of the moulding process and the first
layer was compacted. The second layer formation fol-
lowed, while the last layer was compacted, and the sample
180
γd=13.3kN/m³
160
γd=14.3kN/m³
140 γd=15.3kN/m³
120
qt (kN/m²)

including their name are summarised in Table 2. 100

80
2.4 Bender elements tests 60 qt = 24.53 C - 41.83, R² = 0.99
40 qt = 27.44 C - 37.51, R² = 0.99
Bender elements tests were performed to determine the 20 qt = 27.66 C - 24.36, R² = 0.99
stiffness evolution of the samples with intermediate dry 0
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
unit weights of 14.3 kN/m3 and Portland cement contents C (%)
of 3%, 5% and 7%. The specimens were cured for 7 days
(168 h), and bender elements were installed during the Fig. 5 Splitting tensile strength (qt) function of cement content (C) for
chalk putty–Portland cement blends for 7 days of curing

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closed by the top cap also contains the bender element. The γd=13.3 kN/m³ γd=14.3 kN/m³ γd=15.3 kN/m³

top bender acted as transmitter, while the bottom as 200

qt = 3.53 x 109 (η/Civ0.28 )-4.73, R² = 0.894
receiver of the propagation waives. 180
A very first measurement was done usually 5 min after 160
the compaction was finished. The specimen was then 140
extruded (Fig. 3a) and wrapped in plastic film to keep its

qt (kN/m²)
120
moisture content (Fig. 3b). The subsequently wave propa- 100
gation measurements were taken at the bench (Fig. 3c) 80
until 7 days of curing. 60
The selection of the appropriate input wave frequency to 40
minimise the near-field effects which mask and affect the 20
detection of the arrival time of the shear wave [46, 51] was 0
25 30 35 40 45 50 55
done according to the ASTM D2845 [3] recommendations.
η/Civ 0.28
The near-field effect can be significantly reduced by
increasing the frequency of the transmitted signal Fig. 6 Variation in splitting tensile strength (qt) with adjusted
[2, 42, 53] which will increase the wavelength number, porosity/cement index for chalk putty–Portland cement blends for
Rd = d/k, where d represents the travel distance and k the 7 days of curing
wavelength. The frequencies free of near-field effects
(f) were calculated according to ASTM D2845 [3] con- Unconfined Compressive Strength (Consoli et al., 2018)

sidering a value of the wavelength number (Rd) of at least qu = 1.37 x 109 (η/Civ0.28)-3.87, R² = 0.983
Splitting Tensile Strength
3.3. Considering the tip-to-tip bender distance (d) of 0.079
qt = 3.53 x 109 (η/Civ0.28)-4.73, R² = 0.894
and using the wave velocities (Vs) determined by Consoli 2000
et al. [34] in analogue cement chalk–putty blends using the
1800
Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) system (note that k = Vs/
f), frequencies higher than 30 kHz would lead to Rd [ 3 1600

and thus free of near-field effects. 1400

The stiffness of the material, which in this case increases
qu and qt (kN/m²)

1200
with the curing time, leads to the employment of a higher
frequency range to avoid near-field effects. However, these 1000
frequencies may possibly exceed the bender elements
800
capacity, resulting in overshooting [42]. Having this in
mind, all bender elements tests were performed in a large 600

range of frequencies (from 7 to 80 kHz), so it became 400

possible to identify the near-field effects and to infer the
200
correct travel times. It was observed that the frequencies of
20 kHz up to 24 h of curing time and frequencies of 0
30 35 40 45 50 55
30 kHz from the second up to the seventh day of curing
η/Civ0.28
provided the clearest results.
The time delay of the transmission of the wave between Fig. 7 Results of unconfined compressive strength (qu) [34] and
the transducers (transmitter and receiver) was measured splitting tensile strength (qt) for chalk putty–Portland cement blends
pressing one bender against the other bender before for 7 days of curing
mounting of the benders. The time-delay value was
deducted from the measured wave propagation time results. To avoid the occurrence of crosstalk (electromagnetic
merging), the transducers were grounded.
A Tektronix equipment (function generator), together
Table 3 Parameters ‘a’ and ‘b’ to each unit weight of Eq. 2 with PicoScope data acquisition system, was used to record
the sine wave traces in the time domain. For the assessment
Dry unit weight a b R2
of the travel time of the shear waves, the peak-to-peak
cd = 13.3 kN/m3 24.53 41.83 0.99 approach was adopted: the transmission time from the peak
cd = 14.3 kN/m3 27.44 37.51 0.99 of the emitted wave on the top of the sample to the first
cd = 15.3 kN/m3 27.66 24.36 0.99 peak of the received wave on the bottom of the sample

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200 the travel distance (benders tip-to-tip) and tp the wave

180 travel time as shown in Fig. 4.
160
140
2.5 Triaxial tests
qt (kN/m²)

120
100
80
The triaxial tests were conducted using a computer-con-
60
trolled Bishop triaxial cell. The specimens were moulded
40 with intermediate dry unit weights of 14.3 kN/m3 and
20 qt = 0.11 qu , R² = 0.860
intermediate Portland cement content of 5%. The speci-
0 mens were cured under atmospheric pressure for 7 days
0 500 1000 1500 2000
before shearing in the triaxial chamber and presented initial
qu (kN/m²)
void ratio of approximately 1.0.
Fig. 8 Ratio between unconfined compressive strength (qu) [34] and
After the curing process, the specimens were submitted
splitting tensile strength (qt) for chalk putty–Portland cement blends firstly to saturation in the triaxial cell. This step consisted
for 7 days of curing in simultaneous raise of both cell pressure (up to 520 kPa)
and backpressure (up to 500 kPa), while the effective stress
(Fig. 4). Viana da Fonseca et al. [52] proposed a time was kept constant (20 kPa). The Skempton’s parameter, B,
domain interpretation, which involves different working was monitored, and values of at least 0.97 were reached for
frequencies and recommends using lower frequencies to the all the tested samples. The specimens were isotropi-
roughly predict where the first wave arrival is and higher cally consolidated to mean effective stresses (p0 ) of 20, 50,
frequencies to define its exact position. Given the wide 75 and 100 kPa, with a stress increase rate of 1 kPa/min.
range of applied frequencies, the same procedure was also Conventional drained shearing was conducted at a dis-
adopted for all data in this work. The reduction in the shear placement rate of 1 mm/h. Radial and axial Hall effect
modulus, G0 = qVs2, involved q, the soil specific mass, and sensors [23] were installed to measure the internal dis-
calculation of the shear wave velocity Vs = d/tp, where d is placement with a resolution smaller than 1 lm. An LVDT

1800

1600
G0 = 196.81ln(t) + 464.91, R² = 0.95

1400

1200
G0 = 137.59ln(t) + 413.40, R² = 0.96
G0 (MPa)

1000

G0 = 85.32ln(t) + 351.51, R² = 0.95

800

600
γd=14.3 kN/m³, C=3% (Consoli et al., 2018)
γd=14.3 kN/m³, C=5% (Consoli et al., 2018)
400
γd=14.3 kN/m³, C=7% (Consoli et al., 2018)
γd=14.3 kN/m³, C=3% Bender Elements
200 γd=14.3 kN/m³, C=5% Bender Elements
γd=14.3 kN/m³, C=7% Bender Elements
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180
Time (h)

Fig. 9 Evolution of shear modulus at small strains (G0) through seven days of curing time for chalk putty–Portland cement blends

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Table 4 Parameters ‘a’ and ‘b’ to each cement content of Eq. 5 et al. [37] for fine cemented soils. The results indicate that
Cement content (C) a b R 2 the adjusted porosity/cement index also normalises the
strength results for chalk putty–Portland cement mixtures,
3% 85.32 351.51 0.95 leading to a good determination (R2 = 0.89) between g/
5% 137.59 413.40 0.96 (Civ)0.28 and qt, according to Eq. (3).
7% 196.81 464.91 0.95  
9 g 4:73
qt ðkPaÞ ¼ 3:53  10 0:28
ð3Þ
Civ
Figure 6 also shows the influence of the level of
3
Table 5 Shear modulus results comparison (cd = 14.3 kN/m ) after cementation and compaction on the resulting strength. The
seven days of curing reduction in porosity (g) and the increase in the volumetric
Cement content G0 (UPV system) G0 (bender elements) cement content (Civ) led to the increase in splitting tensile
(C) (Mpa) (Mpa) strength (qt).
3% 923.80 778.70
3.2 Relationship between results of unconfined
5% 1217.34 1139.78
compressive strength and splitting tensile
7% 1521.33 1537.46
strength

The ratio between tensile and compression strength (qt/qu)

(resolution smaller than 10 lm) was placed outside the
confining cell and measured the relative displacement
between the triaxial chamber and the loading piston.
The triaxial tests followed the procedures described by
ASTM D7181 [4] and the area corrections proposed by La
Rochelle et al. [44] were adopted to calculate the applied
stresses.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Influence of the porosity/cement index on qt
Figure 5 shows the results of splitting tensile strength tests
(qt) as a function of the cement content adopted (C). The
results also show the influence of the dry unit weight, cd, on
the tensile strength, qt. Chalk putty–Portland cement blends
were strengthened by the increase in the cement content
and dry unit weight. The values of splitting tensile strength
ranged from 30.9 kPa (3% cement and 13.3 kN/m3) to
166.2 kPa (at 7% cement and 15.3 kN/m3). A linear
trendline fitted well the results corresponding for each dry
unit weight. Equation (2) gives the relation between split-
ting tensile strength tests (qt) and the cement content (C),
and Table 3 shows the respective parameters ‘a’ and ‘b’ to
each unit weight.
qt ðkPaÞ ¼ a:C  b
is typically an important parameter in cemented materials
(i.e [1, 30]), which may be loaded in both compressive and
tensile modes. Knowledge of this ratio also permits the
estimation of qt by knowing qu and vice versa. Recent
studies have demonstrated that this ratio can be well
defined and appears to be unique for a given material
[30, 37].
The splitting tensile strength results function of the
adjusted porosity/cement index g/(Civ)0.28 are compared to
the unconfined compressive strength results in Fig. 7. The
latter results were obtained by Consoli et al. [34] for
similar soil specimens prepared at the same conditions as in
this study.
To evaluate the ratio between tensile and compressive
strength values, the tensile strength results, qt, were divided
by the unconfined compressive strength, qu. A linear trend
line forced to pass through the origin adjusted the results
(R2 = 0.86), and a ratio of 0.11 was obtained (Fig. 8 and
Eq. 4).
qt ðkPaÞ ¼ 0:11qu ð4Þ
According to studies already performed by Clough et al.
[24] and Consoli et al. [33], the splitting tensile strength
values correspond from 9 to 14% of unconfined compres-
sive strength values in a soil improved with cement.
Therefore, the ratio of 0.11 (11%) obtained with the results
presented in this research and in Consoli et al. [34] study is
ð2Þ within the range ascertained in previous studies.

Figure 6 reports the results of splitting tensile strength

tests as a function of an adjusted porosity/cement index, g/
(Civ)0.28, as suggested by Consoli et al. [31] and Diambra

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Fig. 10 Prediction of the initial stiffness was made by correlating the values of G0 with the adjusted porosity/cement index g/(Civ)0.28 and with
time for chalk putty–Portland cement blends

Table 6 Parameter ‘a’ to each curing time of Eq. 6 (Fig. 9). Therefore, only the influence of the cementation
2 process during curing was checked by these measurements.
Curing time a R
The values obtained at the seventh day were also compared
24 h 3.38 0.97 with the Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) system results
48 h 3.90 0.99 from Consoli et al. [34] on similar specimens moulded at
72 h 4.07 0.99 same conditions.
96 h 4.18 0.99 The stiffness versus time in hours (t) curves showed a
120 h 4.26 0.99 logarithmic trend for all samples. Equation (5) and Table 4
144 h 4.34 0.99 show the respective parameters ‘a’ and ‘b’ to each cement
168 h 4.46 0.99 content (C).
G0 ðMPaÞ ¼ a lnðtÞ þ b ð5Þ
Figure 9 shows that the increase in cement content
increases the stiffness of chalk putties. Besides that, the
3.3 Changes of small strain shear modulus
stiffness of the specimen with lower cement content (3%)
with curing time
stabilises more quickly, while the stiffness of samples with
7% cement continues to increase significantly by the end of
The wave propagation measurements were performed from
seven days of curing, indicating that there are still ongoing
the first moment (time zero defined after the specimen was
pozzolanic reactions among the particles.
extruded from the mould) until seven days of curing

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4.6

4.4

4.2
(G0 / (η/Civ0.28)-2.86) x 10-7

4.0

3.8

3.6

3.4

3.2

3.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180
Time (h)
Fig. 11 G0 by g/(Civ)0.28 raised to the exponent - 2.86 as a function of time for chalk putty–Portland cement blends

The results using bender elements and UPV system [34]  2:86
7 g
were very close, especially for the highest cement content, G0 ðMPaÞ ¼ a  10 0:28
ð24 hÞ ð6Þ
Civ
as indicated in Fig. 9 and Table 5.
Each trend curve of Fig. 10 was adjusted to a single
3.4 Stiffness prediction considering the porosity/ exponent (- 2.86). After that, the scalar values of Eq. (6)
cement index were plotted against the time. Thus, the value of G0 by g/
(Civ)0.28 raised to the exponent - 2.86 as a function of time
A prediction of the initial stiffness was made by correlating was obtained. A logarithmic trend curve adjusted the
the values of G0 with the adjusted porosity/cement index g/ results well (R2 = 0.98). Therefore, a unique relationship
(Civ)0.28 and with time. This procedure has already been between the results of initial stiffness ratio by g/(Civ)0.28 as
used to predict unconfined compressive strength, tensile a function of time was obtained, Eq. (7).
strength and stiffness of cemented mixtures. Based on the G0 7
extensive experimental and theoretical evidence about the  2:86 x10 ¼ 0:52 lnðtÞ þ 1:79 ð7Þ
g
existence of a power relationship between the small strain 0:28
Civ
stiffness G0 and the adjusted porosity/cement index g/
(Civ)0.28 (i.e. [26, 27, 37, 38], a correlation curve between
G0 and the g/(Civ)0.28 was established for each curing day 3.5 The stress–strain response
with the measurements performed over a week (Fig. 10).
The power trend line fitted well the results for each curing Typical deviatoric stress, q, shear strain, es, and volumetric
day with an exponent of – 2.86 for 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, 96 h, strain, ev, output data during the drained shearing com-
120 h, 144 h and 168 h, respectively. Equation (6) pression tests by the seventh day of curing are shown in
describes these relations and Table 6 shows the respective Figs. 12 and 13. The deviator stress systematically shows
parameters ‘a’ to each curing time: peak followed by softening in all the tests. The lowest peak

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Fig. 12 Stress–strain response during drained shearing compression of chalk putty–Portland cement blends (C = 5% and cd = 14.3 kN/m3)
resistance was 666 kPa (specimen consolidated at 20 kPa)
and the highest peak strength was 958 kPa (specimen
consolidated at 100 kPa), showing a strength gain of
approximately 44%. Also, the increase in effective stress
causes a lower dilative response. The shear strength
envelopes obtained from these triaxial tests are presented in
Fig. 14, where the deviator stress (q) is plotted against the
corresponding mean effective stress (p0 ). The effective
cohesion intercept (c0 ) of 141.5 kPa and effective friction
angle (u0 ) of 40.4 were observed for chalk putty–Portland
cement blends with C = 5% and cd = 14.3 kN/m3.
Figure 15 shows the variation in the secant stiffness
with the shear strain of the cemented specimens consoli-
dated under different stresses. To calculate the secant
stiffness modulus (Gsec), Eq. (8) was used, where q is the
deviator stress and es the shear strain. The results show a
higher stiffness at the cemented samples consolidated
under higher stresses followed by the cemented specimens
consolidated under lower stresses.
q
Gsec ðMPaÞ ¼ ð8Þ
3es
4 Conclusions
A laboratory-testing programme was carried out in order to
investigate the influence of the cement addition on a sandy-
silt chalk (milled to this particle size distribution). To
accomplish this, splitting tensile tests, bender elements
tests and drained triaxial tests were conducted in soil
samples, considering a variety of cement amount, dry unit
weights and confining stresses. The observations and con-
clusions are summarised as follows:
• The addition of high initial strength Portland cement
improved the mechanical properties (strength and
stiffness) of chalk putties. An adjusted exponent of
0.28 in the volumetric content of cement (Civ) provided
a good correlation coefficient for all the results, proving
that chalk putties–cement blends properties may also be
studied in terms of Civ0.28.
• There is a gain of splitting tensile strength (qt) with the
increase in cement content and compaction of the
samples. The increase in the cement content (for the
same compaction) leads to a linear growth of the
splitting tensile strength. The power trend curves (qt 9
123

Fig. 13 Volumetric strain response during drained shearing compression of chalk putty–Portland cement blends (C = 5% and cd = 14.3 kN/m3)
g/(Civ)0.28) provide a high correlation coefficient,
showing the influence of the level of cementation and
the level of compaction in the strength of the mixtures.
• The reduction in porosity led to more effective cemen-
tation due to the greater number of contacts between the
existing particles and a better stress distribution and
friction mobilisation inside the specimen. The qt 9 g/
(Civ)0.28 relation established for the studied chalk putty–
Portland cement mixes can be used to estimate the
design tensile strength.
• The initial stiffness curves against time confirm a
logarithmic evolution of G0.
• The results of initial stiffness measured through bender
elements and UPV system (the last ones obtained by
[34] were quite similar, which gives credibility to the
results. Measurements with UPV system are easier to
perform than measurements with bender elements. On
the other hand, they are difficult to perform in the first
days of curing (since the samples are fragile) and the
effort made in the contact of the sample with the
transducers might damage the surface of the specimens.
Bender elements allow the evaluation of the initial
stiffness evolution with time without damaging the
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Acta Geotechnica
specimen surface instead. However, they require a good
connection to the samples, are more sensitive to
damages and their results are more difficult to analyse
due to a greater susceptibility of signal interference.
• The shear modulus at small strains (G0) measured by
bender elements was correlated with g/(Civ)0.28 and
with time, providing a prediction of the initial stiffness
for the mixtures for each day of curing time. The
adjusted exponent of 0.28 in the volumetric content of
cement (Civ) yields good results.
• The stress–strain response showed a strength peak for
all the samples and a softening following a peak. Also,
the increase in effective stress causes a lower expansive
response in volumetric strain. The shear strength
envelopes provided an effective cohesion intercept (c0 )
of 141.45 kPa and effective friction angle (u0 ) of 40.4
for chalk putty–Portland cement blends with C = 5%
and cd = 14.3 kN/m3, which corresponds to the inter-
mediate amount of cement and dry unit weight studied
in this research.
• The proposed relationship for splitting tensile strength
and evolution of initial stiffness according to g/(Civ)0.28
can be used in projects involving the studied chalk
Acta Geotechnica

Fig. 14 Shear strength envelopes of chalk putty–Portland cement blends (C = 5% and cd = 14.3 kN/m3)

20 kPa 50 kPa 75 kPa 100 kPa degradation up to a 100 kPa confining stress during
200 consolidation, which covers most of the pavement
180 design applications.
160

140 Acknowledgements The authors wish to express their gratitude to the

Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology/Brazilian Research
120
Gsec (MPa)

Council (MCT/CNPq), to FAPERGS-CNPq (PRONEX) and MEC-

100 CAPES (PROEX) for their financial support of the research group.
The authors also gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the
80
UK Royal Academy of Engineering under the Newton Research
60 Collaboration Programme (Grant NRCP1415/2/2).
40

20
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0.01 0.1 1 10 100
εs (%)
Fig. 15 Secant stiffness response of chalk putty–Portland cement
blends (C = 5% and cd = 14.3 kN/m3)
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correct dosage of soil–cement and to predict its
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