Strength Development Behavior of Cement-Treated Mud with Emphasis on Early-Stage Performance

Abstract

The vacuum preloading combined flocculation and solidification method (VP-FSCM) has been proposed in recent years to increase the efficiency of high-water-content slurries. The characteristic of the strength development of cement-treated mud, especially in the early stage, has significant effects on the consolidation process in the application of the VP-FSCM. An appropriate model for strength development can help decide the design scheme for the combining method to ensure that a high stabilization efficiency of high-water-content slurries is achieved. In this work, laboratory tests are conducted to investigate the strength development of mud with low cement dosage from a very early stage using vane shear tests and unconfined compression tests. After integrating the strengths obtained from the two approaches, the strength development behavior is analyzed, and the offset time is valued by performing a back-analysis using a modified Gallavresi’s equation. It is found that a linear model can be built between the offset time and the water–cement ratio for a series of samples with the same soil type and binder type. Based on the model, the actual and predicted strength values fit well with a correlation coefficient of above 0.998. The model also agrees well with the test data from other literature, thereby testifying to its accuracy. By implementing the proposed model using consolidation theory, the consolidation proceeding time in the combined improvement method is determined.