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A method for considering curing temperature effect in mix proportion design of mass cement-solidified mud at high water content

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Abstract

Conventional mix proportion design of cement-solidified mud (CSM) used as fill material is usually based on the past experience in Japan. Nevertheless, the actual field curing temperature (T) of a new CSM project can be quite different from the Japan’s case, particularly in a different climate zone. As a consequence, Japan’s experience possibly leads to inappropriate design of mix proportion, because the strength gain of cementitious material is strongly influenced by T. This paper aims to provide an insight into this issue. First, 20 different mixes of CSM are prepared and cured under different temperatures varying from 5 to 40 °C, and the unconfined compressive strengths (qu) at various curing ages are measured for each mix cured under each temperature. It is found that for CSM a higher T constantly produces not only very much higher early-age qu but also substantially higher long-term qu, and this can be attributed to 2 aspects, i.e. the accelerated rate of chemical reactions and the larger extent of pozzolanic reactions. Second, a characterization model is developed to quantify the curing temperature effect on the strength gain of CSM, and its reasonability is well demonstrated by a large number of verification data series. Third, in conjunction with an actual project in Singapore, 2 companion sets of UCTs, namely on laboratory-prepared specimens and in situ cored samples, are conducted to identify the difference between field and laboratory strength developments. The value of field/laboratory strength ratio β, a key design parameter, obtained in Singapore’s case is then compared against the Japanese recommendation. Results indicate that the value of β obtained in Singapore’s case is significantly larger than the value recommended in Japan as there is an evident difference in the field curing temperature between these two countries. This suggests that the curing temperature affects the mix proportion design of CSM to a large extent. Finally, a novel procedure on how to approximately consider the curing temperature effect in the mix proportion design of mass CSM is proposed for the reference of practitioners.

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Abbreviations

A, B :

Dimensionless curve-fitting constants

A w :

Cement content defined as the mass ratio of cement to the dry soil

C :

Empirical constant (t−1)

E ′a :

Apparent activation energy

k :

Rate constant at T

k 0 :

Rate constant at T0

M :

Maturity index

m t :

Normalized strength

p :

Allowable defective fraction

PL:

Plastic limit

q u :

Unconfined compressive strength

q u(t, T):

qu of CSM cured for t under temperature T

q u,f :

qu of field CSM

q u,f-design :

Characteristic value of qu satisfying the design requirements in the field

q u,l :

qu of laboratory-prepared CSM

R :

Universal gas constant

R a′:

Parameter reflecting the sensitivity of qu(∞, T) to T

r 7d :

Relative strength gain rate

t :

Curing age

t e :

Equivalent age at T0

t max :

Longest curing age considered in each testing case

T :

Curing temperature

T 0 :

Reference curing temperature

T g :

Benchmark field temperature

W :

Remoulding water content defined as the mass ratio of water to dry soil

α :

Constant related to an allowable defective fraction

a ′ T :

Temperature-based shift factor in ln(qu) − ln(t) scale

β :

Strength ratio defined as the ratio of the mean field strength to the mean laboratory strength

β c :

Corrected strength ratio

β T :

Temperature-enhanced strength coefficient

v f :

Coefficient of variation

ΔT heat :

Holistic temperature difference induced by the autogenous heat of cement

μ f :

Mean qu of in situ CSM

η ′ T :

Temperature-enhanced strength factor

CSM:

Cement-solidified mud

OPC:

Type I ordinary Portland cement

PBFC:

Portland blast furnace cement

SSE:

Sum of square error

UCT:

Unconfined compression test

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

LL:

Liquid limit

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Acknowledgements

This study has been supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFC0800200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 51678266), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, HUST (No. 2018KFYYXJJ006). The financial support is gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. Institute of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Rong-jun Zhang, Ya-qing Qiao, Jun-jie Zheng & Chao-qiang Dong

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Appendix: Conventional procedure for CSM mixing proportion design

Appendix: Conventional procedure for CSM mixing proportion design

If CSM is used as filling material, the mix proportion design usually follows a procedure as follows:

  1. 1.

    Determine the field characteristic strength qu, f-design that satisfies the design requirements in the field. For example, in Central Japan International Airport where CSM was used as reclamation fill, qu, f-design was correlated to a minimum CBR (California Bearing Ratio) value, which allows no consolidation settlement [14]; and in the reclamation project in Singapore, a minimum undrained shear strength is required to ensure the stability of the perimeter bund filled with CSM.

  2. 2.

    Determine the mean field strength μf from the determined qu, f-design and the information on the strength variability in the field. Assuming that the field CSM strength follows a normal distribution with mean μf and standard deviation σf, the relation between qu, f-design and μf is

    $$ q_{\text{u, f - design}} = \mu_{\text{f}} (1 \, - \alpha \nu_{\text{f}} ) $$
    (16)

    in which νf is the coefficient of variation (c.o.v) of field strength, νf = μf/σf; and α is a constant related to the allowable defective fraction p. The allowable defective fraction p represents that when a number of field samples are tested, on the average p (%) of the samples will have unconfined compressive strength qu,f smaller than qu, f-design. The current design methodology prescribes an allowable fraction of p = 25% and assumes a c.o.v of νf = 0.35. For a normal distribution, p = 25% corresponds to α = 0.6745. Hence, one obtains

    $$ q_{\text{u, f - design}} = \mu_{\text{f}} (1 - \alpha \nu_{\text{f}} ) = 0.7639 \mu_{\text{f}} $$
    (17)
  3. 3.

    Determine the required mean laboratory strength μl by μl = μf/β. As recommended in Japan, the strength ratio β is assumed to be 0.65 in practice.

  4. 4.

    Decide on the designed mixing proportion that will produce the required μl by laboratory trial tests on mixes.

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Zhang, Rj., Qiao, Yq., Zheng, Jj. et al. A method for considering curing temperature effect in mix proportion design of mass cement-solidified mud at high water content. Acta Geotech. 16, 279–301 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-00961-5

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