In any underground facilities especially tunnels, it is essential to seal the area against water ingress and leakage of reserved materials. Grouting is a common method used to seal rocks around tunnels, successful grouting reduces the duration and cost of the construction, guarantees better working environment and higher safety, minimizes the maintenance and most important decreases the corresponding environmental hazards significantly. Achieving a sufficient grout spread is one of the prerequisites for a successful and efficient sealing, the penetration of a grout is defined as the length of how far grout penetrates in the rock through fractures from a bore hole. Chemical grouts and cement-based grouts are the prevailing ones among the grouting materials. Despite the better penetrability of chemical grouts, they are unfavorable to use due to environmental hazards associated to them, whilst cement-based grouts are more convenient to use because of their low cost and low environmental impact.The major drawback with cement-based grouts is their limited ability to penetrate the very narrow fractures which is directly related to their filtration tendency which is defined as the tendency of cement grains to agglomerate and build an impermeable filter cake during the flow. Many previous studies investigated the factors that affect the filtration tendency. They drew different conclusions and suggested various methods to improve the penetrability of cement-based grouts.The mixing method is one of the factors that have a great influence on the penetrability of the grout. An effective mixing method improves the dispersion of cement particles in the mixture, thus the penetrability of the grout. As it is known from previous studies, the finer the cement particles the harder to disperse. Grouts based on micro-fine cement (< 30 μm) are essential for the development of grouts that can seal very narrow fractures (20-50) μm compared to (70-80) μm at the present.In this study, the dispersion efficiency of three different mixing methods was evaluated, a conventional lab dissolver equipped with 90-mm disk, a conventional lab dissolver equipped with R/S system and an ultrasound UP400St device. Two cement types, INJ30 and UF12, that are similar in chemical composition but differ in degree of milling were tested. Dispersion was tested with filter pump.The results showed that the conventional lab dissolver equipped with 90-mm disk is ineffective method. The conventional lab dissolver equipped with R/S system is a better method compared to the 90-mm disk but still not effective enough especially when it comes to grouts based on ultra-fine cement (UF12). The ultrasound dispersion is not only the best method between the three methods in comparison, but even more stable and reliable. The best result obtained was grout based on UF12 passing through the 54 μm filter. This could mean that fracture aperture down to 55 μm now can be sealed. This is a significant improvement but there is still a marginal for further improvements. In combination with the dispersion efficiency of different dispersion methods, the study investigated the effect of additives on dispersion in particular and penetrability in general. Results showed that additives do not directly contribute to better dispersion, but they are necessary for better spread since they affect the flow properties.

Gamla Årstabron i Stockholm uppvisade efter 80 år i drift omfattande skador på de bärande betongkonstruktionerna enligt en utredning som genomfördes 2006 av dåvarande Carl Bro AB på uppdrag av dåvarande Banverket Region Öst. Det konstaterades att omfattande reparationer och förstärkningar av brons betongvalv var nödvändiga för framtida rationell drift av bron. Det beslutades efter vidare utredning att de första tre valven på Södermalm i Stockholm skulle renoveras med injekteringsbetong. Renoveringen av de tre valven på fastlandet på Södermalm var ett prov i full skala för att hitta den optimala metodiken för den fortsatta renoveringen av resterande 17 betongvalv. Det här examensarbetet syftar till att utvärdera metoden med injekteringsbetong med hänsyn till injekteringsbetongens egenskaper, material och produktionsteknik.   Bakgrunden till detta examensarbete är att det finns ett stort behov av att följa upp renoveringsmetoden med injekteringsbetong eftersom den inte har använts i någon större utsträckning i Sverige sedan slutet av 1970-talet. Utvärderingen av injekteringsbetongens egenskaper har utförts genom att analysera resultaten av de provningar som utförts på betongen. Provningen har gått till så att utborrade kärnor och tillverkade provkuber har provats för bland annat tryck- och draghållfasthet (vidhäftning). Utvärderingen av material och produktionsteknik har gjorts genom observationer på arbetsplatsen där rapportförfattaren praktiserade hos NCC under juni och augusti 2008. Utöver praktiken har jag närvarat vid och dokumenterat många av de injekteringar som gjorts under projektets första år.   Huvudsyftet med att använda injekteringsbetong var att få fram en betong som uppvisar tillräckligt hög tryckhållfasthet, en viss draghållfasthet och en fri krympning av högst 0,2 ‰. Tyvärr var inte provtagningen tillräckligt omfattande för att dra statistiskt säkerställda slutsatser gällande betongens egenskaper. Det som dock kan sägas är att provtagningen samt information från nyckelpersoner från beställaren (numera Trafikverket) tenderar att bekräfta det som konstaterats i de förstudier som gjordes innan brorenoveringen startade, nämligen att injekteringsbetongen uppvisar en klart lägre krympning än konventionellt gjuten brobetong. Vad gäller tryck- och draghållfasthet så uppfyller den färdiga betongen de krav som ställdes.   Blandning av ingående material i form av ballast och cementbruk samt de enskilda materialens egenskaper visade sig vara en kritisk punkt, vilket bekräftar det som framgår av litteraturen på området. Att kravet på renhet hos ballasten, stenmaterialet, är uppfyllt är av yttersta vikt för slutresultatet. Dessutom är det mycket viktigt att cementbruket som blandas med vatten precis innan det injekteras i den stenfyllda formen håller mycket hög kvalité och är stabilt. I vissa aspekter ställer också metoden högre krav på yrkesarbetare, platsledning och övrig produktionspersonal som pumpförare jämfört med att gjuta med konventionell betong. Förutom de enskilda gruppernas kompetens är också samordningen och logistiken på arbetsplatsen en mycket viktig faktor. Att använda metoden innebär dessutom att beställare och specialister måste ha kunskap och förståelse för att metoden ur vissa synvinklar skiljer från konventionell betong, särskild med tanke på den begränsade användningen av metoden i Sverige i modern tid.   Baserat på slutresultatet av renoveringen, de provningar som utförts samt omdömen från nyckelpersoner hos beställaren var injekteringsbetong rätt metod att använda för att renovera Gamla Årstabron. / According to an investigation conducted in 2006 by the former Carl Bro AB commissioned by the former Swedish railway authority (Banverket), the old Årsta bridge in Stockholm, Sweden, was  after 80 years in operation showing signs of extensive damage on the load-bearing concrete structures. It was pointed out that the concrete vaults of the bridge needed to be repaired and reinforced in order to keep the bridge in an operational state. After further investigation it was decided that the first three vaults on the north side of the bridge were to be renovated by using pre-placed aggregate concrete. The renovation of the three vaults on the north side served as a full-scale test to find the best possible methodology for the continued renovation of the concrete structures that consists of another seventeen concrete vaults. This thesis aims to evaluate the method of using pre-placed aggregate concrete regarding its properties and materials as well as the construction technology.   The reason for this thesis is that there is a great need to follow up the renovation method using pre-placed aggregate concrete since it hasn’t been used in any great extent in Sweden since late 1970’s.The evaluation of the concrete’s properties has been done by analyzing the results of the testing that has been performed on the concrete. Test specimens consisting of concrete cores and fabricated cubes have been tested for compressive and tensile (bond) strength. The evaluation of materials and construction technology has been done by practical observations on the work site where the author worked as an intern for the contractor NCC during June and August 2008. Apart from my internship I also attended and documented many of the grouting occasions during the first year of the project.   The main intention of using pre-placed aggregate concrete was to produce a concrete with high compressive strength, certain tensile strength and a free shrinkage of at most 0,2 ‰. The testing of the concrete was unfortunately not extensive enough to draw any unambiguous conclusions concerning the properties of the concrete. The results of the tests performed as well as information from key persons from the current Swedish traffic administration (Trafikverket) do however tend to confirm what was found during the pilot studies conducted before the renovation of the bridge started, namely that the pre-placed aggregate concrete has a much lower shrinkage than conventional concrete normally used in bridges. As for compressive and tensile strength, the pre-placed aggregate concrete meets the quality requirements.    The mix of included materials, aggregate and cement-based grout, as well as the properties of the materials themselves turned out to be critical for the result, which the literature in the field confirms. The purity of the aggregate is essential for the result. Moreover, it’s very important that the cement-based grout is of high quality and stable. When comparing with traditional concreting, the method imposes higher requirements on the workforce, management and subcontractors, in some aspects. Two other key factors, apart from the competence of each group, are the coordination and the logistics on the worksite. Using pre-placed aggregate concrete also implies that clients and specialists must have knowledge and understanding concerning the differences compared to traditional concreting, especially since the method hasn’t been used in any greater extent in Sweden the last 40 years.   Based on the result of renovation, tests conducted and reviews from key persons at the Swedish transport administration the decision to use pre-placed aggregate concrete was the right one.