Improvement of shear strength and anti-disintegration performance of compacted loess

In order to improve the mechanical properties and water stability of loess in land reclamation of gully-hill areas on the Loess Plateau, an experimental study on the strength and disintegration of loess improved by lime, Nano-SiO₂, polypropylene fiber and guar gum were carried out to compare and analyze their comprehensive improvement effect. The results show that the improvement effect of a single material is obvious in a certain aspect. For example, lime and Nano-SiO₂ can significantly improve the shear strength of loess by 36.3%-250.6% and 9.0%-99.7% respectively. However, their improvement effect is limited in disintegration resistance of loess. The two materials only delay the disintegration process of the sample, and have no effect on the disintegration amount. Polypropylene fiber and guar gum can significantly improve the disintegration resistance of loess. For example, guar gum can reduce the final disintegration rate of loess to less than 11.5%, and the final disintegration rate of polypropylene fiber improved soil is 11.2%-51.9% lower than that of unmodified soil. But the two materials are not effective in improving the loess strength, with the increase in strength ranging from 1.5%-22.9% and 2.8%-15.6% respectively. The composite improved materials can overcome the shortcomings of a single material in the improvement of the strength and disintegration resistance of the loess, improving the comprehensive performance of loess. The results show that 9% lime mixed with 0.6% polypropylene fiber and 2% Nano-SiO₂ mixed with 0.6% polypropylene fiber have the best improvement effect, increasing the shear strength of modified loess by 109.8% and 68.3% respectively and reducing its disintegration rate by 61.3% and 49.8% respectively.