Research on strength and deformation properties of high moisture soft soils stabilized by GGBS, cement, fly ash, and sodium silicate

Cement displays notable shortcomings in deep soil mixing column (DSM) applications,including columnforming failure in soft soil with a high water content and adverse effects on the environment. In this paper, a curing agent named FHC is introduced, specifically designed for soft soil with high moisture content and composed of GGBS, cement, fly ash, and sodium silicate. FHC was used for laboratory solidification treatment of soft clay with a water content of 80 %. The strength and deformation characteristics of FHCS were studied, and the solidification mechanism was analyzed. The findings show that the 7-day strength of FHCS reached 77 % of its 28-day strength, exhibiting notable early strength characteristics. The alkaline environment created by sodium silicate leads to a significant long-term increase in the strength of FHCS. Fitting a power function to strength, FHC content, and curing age allows for accurate prediction of FHCS strength. The failure strain (epsilon(f)) of FHCS slightly increases with the increase of FHC content, exhibiting pronounced brittleness. The deformation modulus (E-50) of FHCS increases with both the FHC content and age, satisfies with strength as: E-50 = (14 similar to 51)q(u). The quantity of gelling products in FHCS increases with increasing FHC content and age, during which soil particles are progressively enveloped, pores in the soil are filled, and the cross-section becomes more flat, leading to a stable and dense structure and subsequent strength enhancement.