Unconfined Compressive Strength of Compacted Disturbed Cement-Stabilized Soft Clay

Abstract

Pneumatic flow mixing method is a new land reclamation method, developed in Japan to meet the persistent lack of space. In this method dredged soft soil is mixed with a small amount of stabilizing material (such as cement) during transporting the soft soil in a pipe using compressed air to be used for land reclamation. In some cases, the soil/cement mixture is stored in temporary place for days and then transported and compacted at the required place. Basically, the cement chemical reaction starts immediately after the mixing with the soft soil and the mixture starts to gain its strength, therefore disturbing the mixture after days from the mixing influences the mixture strength. However, the soil/cement mixture is still able to gain extra strength after disturbance, transportation, and compaction. This study aims to evaluate the effect of dynamic compaction on the shear strength of disturbed cemented soft soil mixture experimentally. The mixture was fully disturbed after one week from mixing with cement. Three cement/soil ratios were used in this study under different dynamic compaction energies. Unconfined compression test was conducted at various curing times for both disturbed and non-disturbed specimens.