Study of the mechanical parameters of two sandy soils stabilized with cement

Abstract

Soil is the most abundant natural building material in nature and often has excellent properties that make it attractive to use in construction due to its resistance, pleasant aesthetic appearance, plasticity, and low cost. Since one of the main goals of a project is to rationalize costs, the use of existing soils on site has long been an attractive objective. Nevertheless, not all soils, due to factors such as granulometry, mineralogical composition or the presence of organic matter, behave in an acceptable way in mechanical terms. The addition of Portland cement modifies soil properties through physical-chemical processes between soil grains and cement, promoting the formation of a skeleton that cements and surrounds the grains. In this work, the improvement of two soils through stabilization with Portland cement was studied. The results obtained allowed us to conclude that the mechanical behavior improved with the curing time of the specimens and with the increase in the binder content. It was also possible to define a ratio between the diametral compressive strength and the simple uniaxial compressive strength. It was determined that there is an “optimal” water content that allows to obtain a more competent mechanical behavior. It was concluded that there is an “optimal” water/cement (w/c) ratio for each binder content, and that this ratio tends to decrease with the increase of the latter.