Abstract:To meet the performance adaptation requirements of support and lubrication materials for shield tunneling and pipe jacking under the complex ground conditions, based on sodium-based bentonite as the A liquid, two types of B liquids, namely sodium silicate and polymer, are selected to construct a two-fluid thixotropic slurry system, which aims to systematically explore the influence laws of different systems and ratios on the macroscopic properties and structural characteristics of slurry. The differences between the two material systems are systematically evaluated through tests on indicators such as specific gravity, viscosity, static pressure filtration loss, compression-resilience performance and shear strength. The results show that under the common proportioning conditions, the specific gravity, viscosity and shear strength of the sodium silicate system are all higher than those of the polymer system, demonstrating its strong inorganic gelation and dense structure characteristics. Polymer systems perform better in terms of filtration loss and compression-resilience properties, and possess the excellent deformation recovery and water retention capabilities. In addition, with the increase of slurry-water ratio, the specific gravity, viscosity, filtration loss and shear strength of the two types of systems all show an upward trend. However, the compressive and resilience properties of the sodium silicate system slightly decreases, while the resilience properties of the polymer system significantly improves, which indicates that the variation of the slurry-water ratio regulates the interaction between particles and the compactness of the network structure, and also reflects the essential differences in the strain recovery mechanism between inorganic gels and organic polymer systems. The performance evolution law of the two-fluid thixotropic slurry under different system and proportion conditions is revealed, providing a theoretical basis and technical support for the optimal design of high-performance, adjustable and environmentally friendly support and lubrication materials in shield tunneling and pipe-jacking construction.