The effects of hydrate cement on the stiffness of some sands

Cementing of sediment occurs naturally in many soils and weak rocks, during both the early and late stages of diagenesis. This paper reports the results of a series of resonant column tests carried out on a range of sand-sized geomaterials to explore the effects of different hydrate cement morphologies on the very small strain stiffness of the materials. It is shown that the proportion of void space filled by hydrate cement, cement location, sand size and grain shape all have a significant effect on shear modulus. The change in stiffness between different host materials is affected by the density, specific surface and grading of the geomaterial.