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Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as an additive has been widely concerned in soil improvement. In the past, the consolidation effect of the PVA in various soils showed obvious differences. However, the reasons for the difference remain unclear. Clay mineral and soluble salt are important components of the soil. Therefore, this study mainly discussed the effects of clay mineral and chloride salt on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of PVA-treated soil. The results indicated that CaCl2 and MgCl2 significantly increased the UCS of the PVA-treated soil, whereas NaCl decreased the UCS. Illite and kaolinite had little effect on the UCS, while the UCS first decreased and then increased with the increase in the montmorillonite content. When the MgCl2 or CaCl2 content approached 3%, the soil samples cracked after curing at room temperature for 28 days due to the formation of crystalline water, which sometimes decreased the UCS of the samples. According to the results of multiple linear regression, for the effect of the UCS of the PVA-treated soil, MgCl2 > NaCl > CaCl2 > montmorillonite > kaolinite > illite. The effects of clay mineral and chloride salt on the UCS of the PVA-treated soil mainly depended on the changes in the soil structure, hydrogen bonding, and cross-linking reactions according to the results of the microscopic tests. The PVA as a consolidation material is not suitable for the seaside, and it should be applied to the soil with no more than 2% MgCl2 or CaCl2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthen sites (i.e., ancient earthen buildings) with important historical, cultural, artistic, social, and scientific value have been seriously damaged. Soil treatment with chemical additives can decrease the degradation rate of earthen sites. In the past, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and quicklime as chemical additives were studied separately for the protection of earthen sites. In arid and semi-arid northwest China, the early strength of the lime-treated soil may be insufficient due to an inappropriate reaction environment, and the PVA as the additive can quickly increase the soil strength. However, calcium carbonate has been proven to not be decomposed for hundreds of years, while there is still a lack of experimental evidence to show that the PVA cannot be decomposed in decades. The PVA and lime as the additives show the potential to make up for the defects each other. Therefore, the physical and mechanical properties of the PVA and lime composite soil are analysed, and the microscopic properties of the composite soil are discussed in this study. The results show that the addition of the PVA decreases water vapour permeability and pore size, which causes a delay in the carbonization reaction of lime, but it acts as a cementing agent to improve soil strength before the lime appropriately reacts. The addition of quicklime can decrease the hydrophobicity of the PVA-treated soil. The mixing of these two materials is conducive to the colour control of the sample. For the composite soil applied to earthen sites in northwest China, the optimal ratio is 10% lime and 1.0% PVA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthen sites have important historical, cultural, artistic, social, and scientific values. However, they have been seriously destroyed by weathering. The methods of in situ replacement and sacrificial layer were previously presented to protect the surface of the earthen sites. This work presents the feasibility of the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-treated soil in a mud state as the anti-weathering material for these two methods. The desiccation cracking behaviour of soil was the main concern, and the surface peeling, hardness, and colour difference were used as the auxiliary evaluation criteria. The results showed that the PVA solution with a high degree of alcoholysis effectively inhibited soil cracking, but cannot eliminate all cracks even if the content reached 1%. The cracks of samples with the PVA mainly developed when the water content exceeded water content corresponding to air-entry value. Filamentous (or meshy) connections and cementation between particles were the main reason to inhibit the development of the cracks. The obvious advantages of the PVA in the decohesion index, hardness, colour difference, and so on cannot be also ignored. Based on these evaluation indicators, a PVA content of 0.8% may be the best choice for anti-weathering of earthen sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• PVA-treated soil is confirmed to prevent water-salt capillary rise. • Effectiveness of 1.0% PVA-treated soil is best. • Interface effects are proposed to explain experimental phenomena. • Capillary rise of layered soil is described by modified Green-Ampt model. In the loess region of northwest China, the accumulation of soluble salt in the soil due to the capillary rise of water often damages earthen buildings. Thus, studies on the cutting off of the capillary-rise path are vital. As a hydrophobicity inducer, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution with water as the solvent has the potential to function as a barrier. This study mainly aims to evaluate the feasibility of using PVA-treated soil as a waterproof layer to prevent water-salt capillary rise through soil column experiments, and the effects of the waterproof layer thickness, waterproof layer position, PVA content, ambient temperature, and type of salt solution on the capillary action. The results indicate that a 1.0% PVA-treated soil with extreme water repellency (i.e. dried at 20 °C) can perfectly prevent the water-salt from migrating to the top of the sample, regardless of the waterproof layer position, waterproof layer thickness, and type of soluble salt. For a 0.5% PVA-treated soil dried at 20 °C, the lower waterproof layer prevents the water-salt capillary rise, while the middle and upper layers exhibit less effectiveness. However, the PVA-treated soil that loses its hydrophobicity after a treatment at 100 °C cannot prevent the water-salt capillary rise, confirming that the prevention of capillary rise is due to the soil hydrophobicity. The waterproof layer thickness and type of soluble salt are less significant than the waterproof layer position, PVA content, and ambient temperature. This study proposes a modified Green-Ampt model to describe the capillary rise, and the hydraulic conductivity and pore size are obtained using the modified model. These parameters and the interface effect are used to explain the experimental results. Finally, the application of PVA-treated soil as a waterproof layer to inhibit water-salt capillary rise is illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hydrophobicity of PVA treated soil decreases after dry–wet and freeze–thaw cycles. • a = 20 is used as the ideal critical value to judge internal wettability. • Wettability of treated soil is mainly controlled by alkyl chain, and hydroxyl group. Earthen sites have important social, historical, artistic, and scientific value. Basal erosion, which is closely related to soluble salt, is one of the most important reasons for the destruction of earthen sites. Soil hydrophobicity may change the path of water–salt migration. Thus, it can protect earthen sites by inhibiting basal erosion at the bottom of earthen walls. However, the changes in the hydrophobicity after freeze–thaw and dry–wet cycles are still unclear. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to investigate the effects of these cycles on the hydrophobicity of PVA composite soil with a high alcoholysis degree. The results indicate that soil hydrophobicity decreased with increasing number of freeze–thaw and dry–wet cycles. At a dry temperature of 80 °C, the soil lost its hydrophobicity. The surface hydrophobicity of immersed samples dried at room temperature decreased or was lost; however, the hydrophobicity inside samples still remained after five dry–wet cycles. Furthermore, an indicator based on the water inlet velocity was presented to judge the interior wettability. The changes in the wettability of the PVA composite soil were mainly controlled by changes in hydrogen bonds, the coiling and stretching of alkyl chains, and the orientation of free hydroxyl groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]