Experimental investigation of blocking mechanism for grouting in water-filled karst conduits

Aiming at the grouting treatment of water inflow in karst conduits, a visualized experiment system for conduit-type grouting blocking was developed. Through the improved water supply system and grouting system, and the optimized multi-source information monitoring system, the real-time observation of diffusion and deposition of slurry, and the data acquisition of pressure and velocity during the whole process of grouting were realized, which breaks through the problem that the monitoring element is easy to fail due to slurry adhesion in conventional test system. Based on the grouting experiments in static and flowing water, the diffusion and deposition behavior of the quick-setting slurry under different working conditions were analyzed. The temporal and spatial variation behavior of the pressure and velocity were studied, and the blocking mechanism of the grouting were further revealed. The results showed that: (1) Under the flowing water condition, the counter-flow diffusion distance of slurry was negatively correlated with the flow water velocity and the volume ratio of cement and sodium silicate (C-S ratio), and positively correlated with the grouting volume. The slurry deposition thickness was negatively correlated with the flowing water velocity, and positively correlated with the grouting volume and C-S ratio. (2) The pressure increased slowly before blocking of the flowing water and rapidly after blocking in karst conduits. (3) With the continuous progress of grouting, the flowing water velocity decreased slowly first, then significantly, and finally tended to be stable. According to the research results, some engineering recommendations were put forward for the grouting treatment of the conduit-type water inflow disaster, which has been successfully applied in the treatment project of the China Resources Cement (Pingnan) Limestone Mine. This study provided some guidance and reference for the parameter optimization of grouting for the treatment projects of water inflow in karst conduits.