A robust method to determine the shear strength of cement-based injection grouts in the field

There is no standardised method to directly determine the shear strength of grouts in the field. Determining the shear strength would make it possible to calculate the penetration length of cement-based grouts and hence establish a design of the grouting procedure. By developing a new robust method that consists of a stick sinking in the grout, a direct measurement of the shear strength can be made, using the same set up as the separation test. The sink of the stick depends on the shear force interaction between the grout and the stick, and hence the shear strength of the grout can be determined. To verify the results, the shear strengths obtained with the stick are compared with measurements of the shear strength made with a rotational rheometer in the laboratory. The comparison shows good agreement; hence the stick can be used in the field to determine the yield strength of cement-based grouts. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.