Influence of Cement Chemistry on the Performance of Cement Stabilized Tropical Lateritic Soil

Ezeah Chukwunonye,Odumade Adegboyega Oduniyi,Ekeoma Emmanuel,Charles Nnamdi Ezugwu

doi:10.3844/ajeassp.2018.783.791

Ezeah Chukwunonye, Odumade Adegboyega Oduniyi + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3844/ajeassp.2018.783.791

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Abstract

Chemical composition affects overall performance of cement on other materials such as when used in concrete or for stabilization of lateritic soil. This research studied the influence of chemical composition of three Portland cement types represented as samples A, B and C on engineering performance when mixed with laterite under tropical environmental conditions.The Lateritic soil sample classified according to AASHTO as A-5(4) was collected from a typical tropical region. Performances of these cements were considered at different cement-laterite proportions, varying from 2-14%. Parameters determined include chemical and metallic contents of the cements as well as Maximum Dry Density (MDD), California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) of cement-laterite mixat a temperature range of 26-28°C. One-way Anova test was used to validate the significant variation in the chemical composition of cements and the unconfined compressive strength. Results indicate that the bearing capacity and unconfined compressive strength of laterite – cement mix depend on the quantity of lime (CaO) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) content in the cement; results also confirm the influence of Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) and sulphur trioxide (SO3) content on the setting time of cement.

Highlights

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete and used as a stabilizing agent
Portland cement is chemically composed of tricalcium silicate (3CaO.SiO2), dicalcium silicate (2CaO.SiO2), tricalcium aluminate (3CaO.Al2O3), tetracalcium aluminoferrite (4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3) and calcium sulfate dihydrate orgypsum (CaSO4.2H2O); and these oxides can be re-written with short notations which is used universally among cement scientists as C3S, C2S, C3A,C4AF and CŜH2 respectively, where Ŝrepresents SO3 (Amin, 2004)
A breakdown of the results is given in Table 1, while Table 2 gives the breakdown of the major chemical compositions of the three cements according to Bogue’s calculations which indicates the difference in their properties

Summary

Introduction

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete and used as a stabilizing agent. Stabilization refers to the mixtures of soil and any cementitious material (s) with optimum amount of water, which result in a moist and dense mass with increased strength and bearing capacity. Several stabilizing materials such as cement, lime, flyash, bituminous materials etc., have been considered for improving the strength and other characteristics of laterite.

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