SBIR Phase II: Subgrade Repair and Stabilization

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将开发和演示一种用于路基土壤稳定的新型玻璃化工艺。该方法包括一种将容易获得的材料注入玻璃化区的方法，消除了在玻璃化过程中土壤致密时会发生的下沉。这一过程是基于使用改良剂来调整玻璃化土壤的性质。第一阶段的工作证明了该工艺的可行性，玻璃化材料适合于路基稳定，并产生了具有结构加固应用的强度的材料。一期工程经济分析表明，该方法与传统的路基修复方法相比具有较强的竞争力。第二阶段的工作将确立该工艺的商业价值，展示其从田间土壤中生产路基合成岩石的经济性、健壮性和多功能性。第二阶段的工作包括一所大学和一名最终用户的参与。拟议的研究和开发将从根本上理解玻璃化过程参数、土壤和合成岩石特性之间的关系。这将使这一过程在商业应用中得到优化。拟议技术的商业市场包括对建筑物、桥梁和水道等多种建筑物周围的不充分地基和斜坡材料进行土壤加固。客户将是高速公路部门(州和联邦)、机场当局、市政当局和工业部门。从本质上讲，该过程对任何实体都是有用的，包括处理路基维护和/或新建筑的承包商，这些承包商需要克服“局部”路基不稳定问题。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop and demonstrate a novel vitrification process for subgrade soil stabilization. The process includes a method to inject readily available materials into the vitrification zone eliminating subsidence that would otherwise occur as the soils densify during vitrification. The process is based on the use of modifiers that adjust the vitrified soil properties. The Phase I work demonstrated feasibility of the process and that the vitrified material was suitable for subgrade stabilization and resulted in materials having strengths qualified for structural reinforcement applications. Economic analysis completed in Phase I indicated that the method is competitive with conventional subgrade repair methods. The Phase II work will establish the commercial merit of the process by demonstrating its economy, robustness and versatility to produce subgrade synthetic rock from soils in the field. The Phase II work includes participation by a university and an end user. The proposed research and development will yield a fundamental understanding of the relationships between the vitrification process parameters, soil and synthetic rock properties. This will enable optimization of the process in commercial applications.The commercial market for the proposed technology includes soil stabilization of inadequate foundation and slope materials around many kinds of structures including building, bridges and waterways. Customers will be highway departments (state and federal), airport authorities, municipalities and the industrial sector. Essentially, the process will be useful to any entity, including contractors that deal with maintenance of subgrade and/or new construction that have "local" subgrade instability issues to overcome.