Real-scale miscible grout injection experiment and performance of advection-dispersion-filtration model

A model was developed, to describe miscible grout propagation in a saturated deformable porous medium, based on Bear's statistical model with spatial volume averaging. In a previous paper, the model was first successfully confronted to one-dimensional laboratory experiments. In the present paper, the numerical model is used to simulate practical grouting operation in a cylindrical injection model. The cylindrical injection model lends itself to study main flow and propagation characteristics for a dispersed suspension-type grout, under axisymmetric conditions close to real scale conditions. Comparison between numerical solutions and experimental results is essential to confirm the validity and accuracy of the proposed model from a phenomenological standpoint. The numerical model performances show that the underlying mathematical model constitutes a realistic predictive model reproducing most prominent features during injection of a suspension-type grout into a deformable porous medium. The basic mechanism by which injected miscible grout permeates a soil mass is discussed in detail. Such a tool leads to quality control criteria for grouting on a theoretical basis, which complements existing criteria acquired through engineering practice. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.