Influence of water on diffusion and porosity parameters of soil-cement materials

In this paper a conservative tracer (tritiated water) is used to assess the diffusive properties of 14 different laboratory-prepared soil-cement mixtures. A single-reservoir diffusion test setup to determine the effective porosity (n(e)) and the effective diffusion coefficient (D-e) through saturated, monolithic, soil-cement materials is used to assess the importance of mixture design on n(e) and D-e. Values of D-e and n(e) were found to range from 2.5 x 10(-10) to 7.0 x 10(-10)m(2)/s and from 0.21 to 0.41, respectively. Results indicate that the water content of the initial mixture has a substantial effect on the diffusive properties of the soil-cement material. The results suggest, from a contaminant transport perspective, that designers should generally aim to minimize the water content of cement-based solidification-stabilization materials.