TRIAXIAL SHEAR BEHAVIOR OF CEMENTED-TREATED SAND UNDER HIGH CONFINING PRESSURES

Abstract

Over the years, stabilizing materials like biopolymer, fly ash, bitumen, lime, and Portland cement have stabilized and improved the engineering soil's properties. However, because of the environmental problems associated with OPC use, substituting it with calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement offers excellent promise for ground improvement because it is less harmful to the environment. Nevertheless, previous studies have examined the effects of CSA cement on the mechanical behavior of cemented sand; researchers have yet to make an effort to study the behavior of CSA cement-treated sand under high confining pressure. To this end, a consolidated-drained (CD) triaxial test was conducted at high confining pressure to examine CSA treated sand's shear strength and mechanical characteristics. In addition, SEM analysis was performed to learn more about the substructure of the tested samples. Experimental conditions, including effective stresses of 500, 1000, and 1500 kPa, and 3, 5, and 7% CSA cement content were employed in this research. In conclusion, the test results revealed that the effective stresses and the percentage of CSA cement present in the samples significantly impact the mechanical behavior of CSA-treated sand under high confining pressures.