The Undisturbed Sampling of Saturated Cohesionless Soil Using A Gelatin Injection Technique

Abstract

<p>A technique for in situ sample solidification using gelatin injection has been developed that allows the recovery of relatively undisturbed samples of saturated cohesionless soil. This involved the development of design guidelines for gelatin selection and the design and construction of a prototype field sampler. Gelatin has an important advantage over the conventional chemical grouts previously used for this purpose in that it can be readily removed from the sample when required. The intact solidified sample can be visually examined for stratigraphic information, and the gelatin can be washed out for determination of void ratio, liquefaction potential, shear strength paramaters etc. Unfortunately, gelatin solutions maintain a relatively low viscosity for a much smaller proportion of their setting times than do other chemical grouts. Therefore care must be taken during the selection of the gelatin concentration to be used in the field. This will ensure that sufficient grout is injected to solidify the proposed sample before the setting time is reached.</p>