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Article

The Influence of Curing Temperature on the Mechanical Properties of Cement-Reinforced Sensitive Marine Clay in Column Experiments

by
Shaoping Huang
1,2,
Ruiming Xing
1,2,
Chang Zhou
3,4,*,
Qian Chen
5,
Chong Hu
6 and
Wenying Cao
1
1
School of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China
2
Key Laboratory of Health Intelligent Perception and Ecological Restoration of River and Lake, Ministry of Education, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, China
3
School of Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
4
Wanbei Coal-Electricity Corporation, Suzhou 234000, China
5
Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
6
Wuhan Metro Group Co., Ltd., Wuhan 430000, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2023, 15(15), 11514; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511514
Submission received: 23 June 2023 / Revised: 15 July 2023 / Accepted: 21 July 2023 / Published: 25 July 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cemented Mine Waste Backfill: Rheological and Mechanical Property)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
The understanding of the mechanical properties of sensitive marine clay subgrade stabilized with cement is vital for the safe, economical, and durable design of road structures. As the curing temperature affects the cement hydration progress, it is necessary to investigate the influence of the temperature on the evolution of the mechanical properties of cement-reinforced marine clay in road construction. A column testing and relevant monitoring program were performed to study the effect of various curing temperatures (2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C) on the mechanical properties’ development of cement-reinforced clay within 28 days. After these cement clay samples were cured for a specific time (1, 3, 7, and 28 days), they were subjected to two mechanical tests (i.e., California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) test). The findings reveal that a higher curing temperature accelerates cement hydration and self-desiccation. Consequently, the UCS and CBR values increase with curing temperature and the strength might vary by more times, especially for early age (≤7 days) samples. The results of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the influence of temperature on the mechanical properties of the cement-reinforced clay and thus provide practical guidance with regards to road construction in the field.

1. Introduction

As a kind of composite material, marine clays are widely distributed all over the world, especially in regions that have abundant reserves of water [1]. Given its ingredient (mainly fine clay, calcareous, and siliceous sediment), marine clays are characterized by low strength, stiffness, and permeability [2,3]. However, despite the poor performance in mechanical behavior, it is inevitable to encounter marine clays in road construction. Taking marine clays as the subgrade directly will lead to the occurrence of many geotechnical hazards; for example, landslides [4], frost heave, and foundation damage [5]. Therefore, how to stabilize the sensitive marine clays and build up the bearing capacity of the subgrade is a key challenge facing civil engineers [6]. Traditionally, many treatments can be used to reinforce the strength of the foundation; for example, soil compaction, soil replacement, and chemical stabilization. Among them, chemical stabilization is an effective mitigation measure with respect to practicability and stability.
As an innovative technology developed in the past decades, the chemical stabilization method can not only reduce the sensitivity and plasticity of marine clays but also improve their durability [7]. With these advantages, chemical stabilization is adopted for the design of safer and more cost-effective roads. It is well-known that many materials (i.e., lime, cement, asphalt, and certain resins) can be utilized to stabilize marine clays [8,9,10,11]. Given its efficiency and ease of access, Portland cement is one of the most popular stabilizers [12,13,14].
A major design criterion of roads is their mechanical stability, which is closely related to durability and investment cost. Additionally, repetitive construction due to insufficient strength will also pose huge threats to environmental protection. Over the past few decades, a comprehensive understanding of cement-reinforced marine clays has been made [14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. It was found that the addition of cement can significantly increase the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of marine clays [26,27,28]. The evolution of the UCS of cement-treated marine clays is mainly determined by changing the rate and the degree of cement hydration. As a result, there are many influential factors, such as the water-to-cement (w/c) ratio, cement content, curing time, curing stress, and temperature [29,30,31]. However, most of the previous studies only concern the influence of cement content, curing time, and high temperature [32] on the UCS, and few studies were dedicated to the influence of different degrees of temperature on the UCS of cement-reinforced marine clays.
It is widely acknowledged that temperature is a nonnegligible factor when it comes to cement hydration [33,34]. To date, we have a lack of knowledge on the contribution of temperature to the strength acquisition of the cement-reinforced subgrade. Considering the temperature of the subgrade varies with many factors, such as the geographic position, geological condition, seasonal change, and the heat generated by cement hydration, it is, therefore, necessary to investigate the mechanical response of the cement-reinforced subgrade with regards to different temperatures.
Thus, the above authors carried out a research program to thoroughly reveal the impact of curing temperature on the mechanical performance of clay subgrade stabilized with cement in column experiments. In light of the research gap in the field of cement-reinforced marine clay with different temperatures, the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test and the UCS test were carried out on cement-reinforced marine clays by the authors. The primary objective of this paper is to explore the influence of temperature on the evolution of the mechanical properties (stress–strain curve, CBR, UCS) of cement-reinforced marine clays.

2. Materials and Test Procedure

2.1. Materials

Sensitive marine clays, binders, and water were used in this study.

2.1.1. Sensitive Marine Clays

The mineralogy of the sensitive marine clay consists of quartz, feldspar, illite, chlorite, and amphibole [35]. The other characteristics of the clay are summarized in Table 1, which are similar to the findings achieved by other scholars [1,36]. In addition, the grain size distribution of the clay is illustrated in Figure 1, and the physical picture of the marine clay is shown in Figure 2a.

2.1.2. Water and Binder

It is known to all that Portland Cement Type I (PCI) is the most widely used cementing agent for ground improvement projects due to it having common practicality and effectiveness. Without a doubt, PCI was used as the stabilizer in this research. The main chemical components of PCI are shown in Table 2, which are provided by the manufacturer. In addition, the grain size distribution of the cement is illustrated in Figure 1, and the physical picture of the cement is shown in Figure 2b. The amount of cement for the column test was computed based on the ratio of the dry weight of cement to clay (12 wt.%). Distilled water was used to mix PCI and clay, and the optimum water content was set as the moisture content, which was kept constant in all of the column experiments. It should be emphasized that the optimal water content and the maximum dry density of treated clays were obtained by a Proctor compaction test prior to the sample preparation.

2.2. Mixing Procedures

Prescribed quantities of clays, PCI, and water were thoroughly mixed in a concrete mixer. The cement content adopted in this study was 12 wt.%, and the moisture content was 18.91% (optimum water content).
The clays were immediately stored in sealed barrels after being acquired from the field. At the beginning of the test, they were dried in an oven for 24 h to remove the moisture. Thereafter, a sieve with a size of 2 mm was used to ensure the homogeneity of the clay after manual crushing. The clay powder was kept in an airtight plastic bag to avoid moisture exchange. After that, the required quantities of clay powder and PCI were first mixed in a mixer for five minutes to ensure homogeneous mixing, and then we added the prescribed amount of water to achieve the optimum water content and stirred for about 5 min. After the clay mixtures were produced, they were divided into 6 portions and then were placed into the molds, separately. Compaction is applied after the placement of each portion sample, and the height of every clay layer is about 50 mm. Therefore, the sizes of the molds are 300 mm in height and 152 mm in diameter. To prevent evaporation, the top of the column was wrapped with plastic films after the last compaction of the sixth-layer clay.

2.3. Experimental Setup

The schematic diagram of the column experiment is demonstrated in Figure 3. For the purpose of testing and sampling the samples, fifteen columns are used, three of them for the monitoring programs, while the other twelve are for sample preparation. For monitoring purposes, three columns of mixtures were cured at 2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C for 28 days. The testing columns with a prescribed amount of cement (12%) were cured in the specified constant temperature container for 1, 3, 7, and 28 days. To simulate the low-permeability subgrade, the bottom of the sample is sealed to prevent drainage from happening. When the desired curing time is reached, the upper part of the samples in testing columns was trimmed into cylinders (for the UCS test, with a size of 100 mm in height and 50 mm in diameter), while the low part of the samples was for the CBR test, as shown in Figure 3b.
In contrast, the monitoring columns were equipped with various sensors, including a Dielectric Water Potential Sensor (MPS6, for measuring the matric suction and temperature) and an ECH2O 5TE sensor (for monitoring the electrical conductivity (EC), volumetric water content (VWC), and temperature). The MPS6 and 5TE were installed in the middle of columns, and they were connected to a data logger for data recording. The dial gauges were fixed at the top of columns to measure vertical settlement due to consolidation.

2.4. Test Methods

A lot of laboratory tests were conducted on cement-reinforced clay samples, including the mechanical tests (the UCS and CBR tests).
The UCS test is a well-known method used to investigate the mechanical properties of intact/remolded clay [27,37]. As mentioned above, cylinder samples with a size of 100 mm in height and 50 mm in diameter were taken from the top of the column. It should be noted that the top and bottom surfaces of the specimens need to be trimmed to be flat enough to reduce errors caused by the stress concentration. A Digital Tritest 50 (as shown in Figure 4) is adopted for the UCS test, the rate of which is determined in accordance with ASTM D1633, namely 1 mm/min.
The CBR test is one of the most commonly and widely used tests for evaluating the bearing capacity of subgrades and bases in the laboratory [38]. The CBR test is used for measuring the resistance of a material to the penetration of a standard plunger. According to ASTM D1883, the CBR is the ratio of the unit load on the piston at 2.5 mm and 5 mm of penetration to the unit load required to penetrate a standard material of well-graded crushed stone, and the penetration rate is 1.25 mm/min.

3. Discussion and Results

3.1. Temperature Development within the Cement Clay Specimens

Figure 5 illustrates the influences of curing temperature on the inner temperature of the reinforced clay, as three specimens are placed in environments of 2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C, respectively. The results suggest that the internal temperatures are obviously influenced by the curing temperatures, which result from thermal conduction and internal cement hydration. Thermal conduction refers to the well-known fact that as long as there is a temperature difference between materials in contact, thermal energy will be transferred from the object with a higher temperature to other objects with a lower temperature until thermal equilibrium is reached. Therefore, the internal temperatures of the specimens in this study vary over time, yet in a similar pattern. As shown in Figure 5, starting with the same internal temperature at 20 °C, all three specimens reach uniform temperature with their environment by heating up or cooling down. Specifically, the 2 °C curve shows that the internal temperature decreases exponentially from the initial stage of the experiment and then stabilizes at the temperature of the surrounding medium. This is attributed to the traits of specific thermal conduct—cement clay in this study. The rate of hydration of cement decreases because of the low temperature, and the rate of heat production from the hydration reaction decreases [39]. Meanwhile, the heat of the specimen is continuously transferred from the higher-temperature specimen to the lower-temperature environment. The temperature of the specimen could not be raised at an environment of 2 °C because the rate of heat loss from the specimen was higher than the rate of heat production from the hydration reaction of the cement.
Meanwhile, the 22 °C and 40 °C curves demonstrate that the internal temperatures first rise over the curing temperatures by 5.4 °C and 2.3 °C, respectively, before declining back to the curing temperatures. This is attributed to the binder hydration (i.e., internal reaction) within the specimens. This reaction generates heat, which further increases the internal temperature of the specimen over the curing temperature. These results are consistent with findings from previous studies that found that binder hydration can contribute to the temperature change within cement materials [40].
It is also worth noticing that the internal temperature of the cement clay sample with a 40 °C curing temperature surges to the peak value after only 7.5 h of curing, while the specimen with a 22 °C curing temperature increases to the peak value after 11.5 h of curing. These differences show that a higher temperature (40 °C) improves the cement hydration rate, and thus brings the internal temperature faster to the peak temperature value. This is in accordance with the results from previous research [41,42].

3.2. Influence of Curing Temperature on Stress–Strain Behavior

Some typical stress–strain curves measured by the UCS test for cement-reinforced clay specimens cured at specified curing temperatures (2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C, respectively) for 28 days have been plotted in Figure 6. In this figure, it is clear that all curves show smooth hump shapes without inflection points. This means that these specimens suggest a plastic failure. Nan Zhou et al. [2] conducted an isotropic compression test and an isotropic consolidated drained triaxial test under various confining pressures and verified that the stress–strain behavior with smooth hump shapes of cement-reinforced marine clay is similar to over-consolidated stress–strain behavior. Additionally, it is obvious in this figure that all curves increase initially to the peak value and decrease afterward, regardless of different curing temperatures. In other words, all curves exhibit approximately the same pattern. However, it should be mentioned that the highest stress values in each curve rank in the same order as the curing temperature, which is because the curing temperature is favorable for binder hydration.
It can be observed that different specimens reach the peak stress at a different strain value. Also, the slope of the curve increases with the rise of the curing temperature. This reveals that the cement-treated clay stiffens with the rise of the curing temperature. This is because a higher curing temperature accelerates the binder hydration and gains the cement clay extra strength, which will be further discussed below.
Furthermore, the stress–strain curves from the unconfined compressive strength tests presented in Figure 6 suggest that the curve with the lowest curing temperature (2 °C) goes down slowly in post-peak stress with strain. In contrast, the curve with the highest curing temperature (40 °C) plunges. In other words, the cement-treated marine clay cured at colder temperatures (below 22 °C) exhibited ductile behavior that is akin to the natural marine clay. That is, the post-peak stress reduces gradually with strain. On the other hand, the cement-reinforced marine clay cured at warmer temperatures becomes more brittle, which is similar to highly structured or sensitive soils [14].

3.3. Influence of Curing Temperature on the UCS

The coupled influences of curing time and temperature on UCS’s evolution are graphically demonstrated in Figure 7. The time-dependent evolution of the UCS of the cement-treated clay is significantly affected by the curing temperature, as presented in Figure 7. It is clear that the cement-treated clay cured at the highest temperature corresponds to the highest value of the UCS. In other words, regardless of the curing time, the trends of the UCS display that the UCS rises with the curing temperature. The improvement of strength of cement-stabilized clay is realized by changing its internal structure state. That is to say, as the binder reaction proceeds, the products of cement hydration continuously propagate and, therefore, the pores among the particles are refined by their precipitation. The particle aggregates lead to the improvement of the stability of the cement clay framework. In other words, the strength of the cement clay improves. The improvement in the strength of cement-reinforced clay with temperature can be explained by two factors. To begin with, the cement hydration products produced by the reactions between dicalcium silicate (C2S), tricalcium silicate (C3S), and water (namely calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H)) increase the cementation among the clay particles. This phenomenon was observed in detail by previous researchers through scanning electron microscopy [43,44]. Furthermore, the fibrous crystals produced by the hydration of cement continue to extend and intersect the pores among the clay particles, resulting in an increased ability to resist the sliding and misalignment of the particles. This is mainly attributed to the well-known fact that a higher temperature accelerates the hydration reaction rate [32,34,45]. The UCS goes up with the increased curing temperature. The higher temperature accelerates the hydration reaction, and more cement hydration products are formed [33,40,46]. Additionally, it should be mentioned that C-S-H is thought to be the primary binding phase in hardened cement [33,40,47]. Fall et al. [33], Fang and Fall [48], and Wang et al. [40] verified that the higher curing temperature gives rise to more hydration products, which result in CPB strength gain on the basis of different thermal analyses. In addition, Chew et al. [14] also carried out an X-ray diffraction test in cement-reinforced Singapore marine clay and revealed that kaolinite in the samples is rapidly exhausted, thus producing C-S-H.
It is a well-known fact that a higher curing temperature increases the activity of free ions and facilitates ionic dissolution. This contributes to accelerating hydration given that multiple types of ions are necessary for cement hydration. Moreover, heat induces faster kinetics in the chemical processes (e.g., faster dissolution, precipitation rates) and quicker spread through the hydrate assemblage around unreacted cement grains [40]. This is also supported by the evolution of the EC of the cement clay cured at specified temperatures (2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C), as graphically demonstrated in Figure 8. These findings reveal the effects of the curing temperature on the evolution of the EC value inside the cement clay. Firstly, all curves show a similar trend of increasing initially to the maximum EC value and then a decreasing tendency, despite different curing temperatures. Nevertheless, the comparison of the EC curves obtained at different temperatures indicates that a higher curing temperature shortens the time to reach the peak value. Specifically, the critical moments for the cement-reinforced clay specimens cured at 2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C are 10.5 h, 5.7 h, and 1.8 h, respectively. Moreover, it should be also noticed that the EC peak value decreases as the curing temperature increases, which can explain why more ions exist in the samples with a lower curing temperature, as a lower curing temperature inhibits hydration. In other words, although a higher curing temperature improves the activity of ions and facilitates ionic dissolution, a higher curing temperature increases the cement hydration rate, leading to a much higher ion consumption rate than a lower curing temperature. The findings presented above again verify that higher temperature accelerates cement hydration.
In Figure 7, it is also illustrated that, regardless of the curing temperature, the UCS values increase with curing time. Numerous previous studies have revealed that hydration products increase with curing time due to cement hydration [49,50]. It should be emphasized that the UCS of all curing temperatures increases more rapidly in the early time (the first week) and slows down afterward. For example, the UCS value increment of the cement clay specimens cured at 40 °C is about 537.5 kPa during the first week, which is approximately 165% of the increment from 7 to 28 days of curing time.
In addition to the aforementioned, self-desiccation is considered a factor that significantly affects the UCS value [48]. Self-desiccation is a phenomenon that the water content or pore water pressure decreases as a net decrease in the total volume of water and solids caused by the hydration of cement [51]. The coupled influence of curing temperature and curing time on the development of self-desiccation in cement clay is summarized in Figure 9. The time-dependent evolution of the VWC of the cement-reinforced clay cured at specified curing temperatures is presented in Figure 9b, while Figure 9a depicts the time-dependent evolution of matrix suction of the cement clay cured at various curing temperatures. It is well-recognized in these figures that the highest curing temperature corresponds to the highest matrix suction values and the lowest VWC values. This is primarily attributable to high curing temperatures accelerating cement hydration, which leads to faster and more consumption of water within the capillary pores of the cemented material [52,53]. On the other hand, faster cement hydration generates more hydration products; therefore, more hydration products precipitate in the capillary and refine the pore structure [33]. Especially in the early days (first week), self-desiccation is obviously affected by the curing temperature. Take the specimens cured for three days as an example. The VWC and suction values for three-day cement samples at 2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C are 0.265, 0.252, and 0.245 and 157.68, 285.16, and 401.32 kPa, respectively.
In Figure 9, it is also clearly noticeable that, irrespective of the curing temperature, self-desiccation increases as the curing time goes up as a result of cement hydration. The more water consumed forms more cement hydration products over time, and thus results in a decrease in the VWC value and an increase in the suction value. Furthermore, it should be noted in Figure 9 that no matter what the curing temperature, the VWC value reduces more rapidly, and the suction value increases faster at an early age. In its simplest terms, self-desiccation is more intense at an early stage. It agrees well with the evolution of the UCS values at early ages. It can be observed in Figure 9b that the peak value of the VWC decreases with an increase in temperature. The main reason for this phenomenon is that the cement will undergo a hydration reaction and consume a large amount of water immediately after contact with water, and the specimen will be fully mixed with water before the cement can be monitored by the monitor. Therefore, higher conservation temperatures will consume a larger amount of water, resulting in a lower peak of the VWC.
The above analyses with regard to the influence of curing temperature on the mechanical properties of cement-stabilized clay at the early age (7 days) may have an important engineering practical value. This can play a significant role in the design of a cost-effective and safe marine clay subgrade stabilized with cement. It is evident that the subgrade stabilized with cement gains higher early strength, which means the engineering project can be completed faster; in other words, reducing the construction period. In turn, engineering companies can achieve the purpose of reducing costs. In conclusion, it is necessary to take measures to increase the temperature of the clay subgrade stabilized with cement in cold regions and seasons with an aim to increase early strength.

3.4. The Effect of Curing Temperature on the California Bearing Ratio Value

It is well-known that the CBR of the subgrade is undoubtedly the most common geotechnical parameter for the design of the thickness of flexible pavements [54,55]. Hence, it is necessary to take up further study toward a deeper understanding of the impact of curing temperature on the CBR value of clay subgrade stabilized with cement. Figure 10 presents the results of the CBR test of cement clay cured at specified temperatures (2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C) for 1, 3, 7, and 28 days. It is evident in Figure 10 that irrespective of the curing time, the CBR values increase with the rise of the curing temperature. This is primarily due to high temperatures accelerating the hydration of cement, which consumes more moisture and generates more hydrated products in the samples, as discussed earlier. In other words, the water content decreases with an increase in curing temperature, which is consistent with the monitoring results of the VWC in the cement clay samples; therefore, the CBR values increase with the curing temperature due to the water content decrease. Previous research [56] has also demonstrated that lower water content leads to a higher CBR of subgrade soil. On the other hand, more hydration products generated in the samples contribute to the increase in the effective stress and bearing capacity, and thus the CBR increases. Furthermore, regardless of the curing temperature, there is an increase in the CBR value as the curing time increases. This is because when more water is consumed, more hydration products are formed in the cement-reinforced clay samples with a longer curing time. Also, it should be mentioned in Figure 10 that the higher curing temperature induces a larger rate of the CBR, which is mainly attributed to the faster hydration reaction with a higher curing temperature. Moreover, it should be noted that irrespective of the curing temperature, the CBR value surges at an early age (in the first week), and then slows down. This is in accordance with the evolution of the UCS result from the time of Portland cement hydration. The results suggested above show that there are tremendous benefits in terms of an increase in the CBR. The clay subgrade stabilized with cement should adopt measures to keep higher temperatures in the subgrade in the cold season and regions to increase the bearing capacity of the subgrade.

4. Summary and Conclusions

This study reveals the evolution of mechanical properties (UCS, CBR) in cement-reinforced clay by means of a column experiment cured at specified temperatures (2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C) for various curing times (1, 3, 7, and 28 days). The main results of this paper are summarized as follows:
It is observed that the curing temperature plays a significant role in terms of the evolution of mechanical properties (UCS, stress–strain, and CBR) in clay subgrade stabilized with cement. The results show that the mechanical properties are highly variable with specified curing temperatures and curing times.
It is found that a higher curing temperature accelerates cement hydration, which results in a decrease in the volumetric water content (VCW) and an increase in the matric suction. Consequently, the UCS value increases, especially at an early age (≤7 days).
The findings indicate that the curing temperature has a strong impact on the stress–strain behavior of cement-reinforced clay. It is shown that the stiffness of cement-treated marine clay enhances with increasing curing temperatures. The cement-reinforced marine clay cured at colder temperatures (below 22 °C) exhibits ductile behavior, while clay cured at warmer temperatures becomes more brittle.
It can be also observed that the CBR value of cement-reinforced clay increases with curing temperature and curing time in this study, especially at an early age (≤7 days). In simple terms, a higher curing temperature can improve the bearing capacity of the subgrade.
The results of this paper will contribute to a deeper understanding of the influence of curing temperature on mechanical behavior, and thus provide practical applications with regard to the safe, economical, and durable design of marine clay subgrade stabilized with cement. The results of this study will provide a better reference for the actual engineering works so that the works can take different engineering measures more clearly in different climatic conditions.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, S.H.; methodology, S.H.; software, S.H. and R.X.; validation, R.X., Q.C. and C.Z.; formal analysis, S.H.; investigation, W.C.; resources, C.H.; data curation, Q.C.; writing—original draft preparation, S.H.; writing—review and editing, W.C.; visualization, R.X.; supervision, C.Z.; project administration, Q.C.; funding acquisition, C.H. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Ph.D. research start-up fund of Hubei University of Technology, China: Study on the evolution law of THMC characteristic parameters and constitutive model of solidified marine clay (XJ2021000502); the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, China: Spatial-temporal dynamic evolution mechanism of soil moisture in ecological protection slopes under rainfall conditions (2022CFB833); the young and middle-aged talent project of the Science and Technology Research Program of the Hubei Provincial Department of Education, China: Experimental study on the mechanism of buried anti-slide piles and plants synergistic slope protection under rainfall conditions (Q20275408); the Central Universities (Q20275408, 2021QN1082, XJ2021000502); the Regional Key Research and Development Program of Xinjiang Province (Grant No. 2021B03004-3); and the Joint Funds of the National Nature Science Foundation of China (U22A20232).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available upon request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy concerns.

Acknowledgments

Sincere thanks to the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) for its help and support for this study and Xingming Li for his assistance with this study.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. Grain-size distribution of the marine clay and cement.
Figure 1. Grain-size distribution of the marine clay and cement.
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Figure 2. A physical picture of the raw materials.
Figure 2. A physical picture of the raw materials.
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Figure 3. Schematic view of the column experiments.
Figure 3. Schematic view of the column experiments.
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Figure 4. Setup of the mechanical test equipment.
Figure 4. Setup of the mechanical test equipment.
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Figure 5. Temperature evolution within cement clay specimens cured at various temperatures.
Figure 5. Temperature evolution within cement clay specimens cured at various temperatures.
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Figure 6. Stress–strain curves of cement-treated clay cured for 28 days at various curing temperatures.
Figure 6. Stress–strain curves of cement-treated clay cured for 28 days at various curing temperatures.
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Figure 7. Evolution of UCS values of the samples cured at various temperatures.
Figure 7. Evolution of UCS values of the samples cured at various temperatures.
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Figure 8. Monitoring results of electrical conductivity in cement clay cured at various temperatures.
Figure 8. Monitoring results of electrical conductivity in cement clay cured at various temperatures.
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Figure 9. Evolution of the matric suction (a) and VWC (b) in cement clay cured at 2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C.
Figure 9. Evolution of the matric suction (a) and VWC (b) in cement clay cured at 2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C.
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Figure 10. Evolution of the CBR values of the samples cured at 2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C.
Figure 10. Evolution of the CBR values of the samples cured at 2 °C, 22 °C, and 40 °C.
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Table
Table 1. Typical properties of sensitive marine clay.
Table 1. Typical properties of sensitive marine clay.
PropertiesA. Taha [1]Athir Nader [36]This Study
Specific gravity 2.74–2.792.72–2.78
Water content (%)8237–89.256.6
Liquid limit (%)6614.8–3744.57
Plastic limit (%)2526.3–59.915.91
Plasticity index (%)4011.5–28.128.42
Liquidity index1.4-1.41
Natural void ratio2-
Optimum water content, dry density at optimum22%, 1.53 g.cm3-18.91%, 1.43 g.cm3
Table
Table 2. The main chemical components of PCI.
Table 2. The main chemical components of PCI.
Component UnitSO3 (wt.%)Fe2O3 (wt.%)Al2O3 (wt.%)SiO2 (wt.%)CaO (wt.%)MgO (wt.%)
PCI3.822.704.5318.0362.822.65
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Huang, S.; Xing, R.; Zhou, C.; Chen, Q.; Hu, C.; Cao, W. The Influence of Curing Temperature on the Mechanical Properties of Cement-Reinforced Sensitive Marine Clay in Column Experiments. Sustainability 2023, 15, 11514. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511514

AMA Style

Huang S, Xing R, Zhou C, Chen Q, Hu C, Cao W. The Influence of Curing Temperature on the Mechanical Properties of Cement-Reinforced Sensitive Marine Clay in Column Experiments. Sustainability. 2023; 15(15):11514. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511514

Chicago/Turabian Style

Huang, Shaoping, Ruiming Xing, Chang Zhou, Qian Chen, Chong Hu, and Wenying Cao. 2023. "The Influence of Curing Temperature on the Mechanical Properties of Cement-Reinforced Sensitive Marine Clay in Column Experiments" Sustainability 15, no. 15: 11514. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511514

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