Developed by Sandia National Laboratories, our ultrafine cementious grout is a finely ground mixture of Portland cement, pumice and dispersant. US Grout produces two grades of ultrafine cementious grout, with an average particle size of two and four microns—in stark contrast to typical particle sizes of 60 to 70 microns in conventional grout cements.
Our ultrafine grouts are engineered with the following characteristics:
- Very low water to cement ratio.
- Little or no bleed.
- Two hours of injectability (or more if required) without measurable agglomeration.
- Volume stability, less than 0.1% linear shrinkage.
- Low superplasticizer content.
- Enhanced strength and decreased permeability.
- Water soluble lime and alkalinity are greatly reduced.
- Extremely low hydraulic conductivity (often referred to a permeability).
- Very stable (excellent longevity).
- Improved resistance to chemical attack due to extremely low hydraulic conductivity.
- The low heat of hydration results in high resistance to thermal contraction cracking.
Engineers and Contractors: consider the following benefits:
- U.S. Grout products are ready to use.
- Competitively priced.
- Stable North American supply.
- Stringent quality control and modern plant facilities ensure uniformity.
- Smaller particle size will penetrate smaller fractures and finer grained soils.
- Low internal cohesion means greater penetration and lower drilling costs.
- Composed of non-hazardous materials.
Permeation Grouting (injecting the grout with pressure):
An expensive large scale permeation test, completed in January, 2000, proved that U.S. Premium Grout can pass through, and completely grout, a silty sand with a hydraulic conductivity as low as 5 x 10 - 2 centimeters/ second (the equivalent of a fine-grained sand with a silt content of 5%). The hydraulic conductivity of the grouted mass was reduced to 1 x 10 - 7 centimeters/second.
Particle Size Information
90% of the particles in Premium Ultrafine grout are smaller than 5 microns (micron = one millionth of a meter) and average 2.6 microns.
90% of the particles in Standard Ultrafine grout are smaller than 8 microns and average 4 microns. (These sizes were determined by the Micro Meretics Company, using their sedigraph.)
Heavy Metals
As in all Portland Cements, US Ultrafine Grouts have a tendency to absorb and immobilize heavy metals (such as plutonium, actinium, strontium, uranium, etc.) This is important if the task is immobilizing radioactive waste.
