Development of self-healing soil-cement systems subjected to freeze-thaw cycles

Abstract

Many civil engineering applications utilize soil–cement systems. However, deterioration of soil–cement systems due to repeated freeze–thaw cycles is a main concern for civil engineering applications. Freezing and thawing cycles can have a significant impact on the strength and permeability of soil–cement systems. This durability issue has a significant impact on the sustainability. Therefore, projects that use soil–cement systems may damage if subjected to freeze–thaw cycles. It increases the price of maintaining and repairing soil–cement systems. The study addressed in this paper primarily focuses on soil–cement systems that are vulnerable to freeze–thaw cycles. This study investigated different soil–cement systems for different freeze–thaw cycles of 1, 3, 5, and 10 with varying cement percentages (10%, 15% and 20% by weight of soil). By adding MgO powder, the soil–cement system was developed in this study. MgO powder increased the unconfined compressive strength by 6–47%, enhancing its capacity for self-healing. Maximum strength of 13% is observed at 10% cement content after 10f-t cycles. More generally, these smart systems allow for the construction of stronger, more resilient, and less prone to freeze–thaw degradation for engineering applications.