Laboratory investigation on the strength characteristics of cement-sand as base material

Abstract

Soil cement as pavement base has been used in practice since 1915 due to its effectiveness in preventing pumping of the subgrade soils and its relatively high strength. In this research, the factors affecting the strength of cement-sand were investigated based on laboratory compaction tests and unconfined compression tests. The test results showed that the dry density, moisture content (w), water to cement ratio (w/c), initial void ratio (e ini ), and cement content (C w ) are the main controlling factors in the behavior of cementsand. A simple empirical correlation method is proposed to estimate the unconfined compressive strength of the cement-sand based on cement content, initial moisture content, and water to cement ratio. The tube suction tests were also performed in an effort to evaluate the water susceptibility of cement-sand, as the strength of cement soil can be affected by the soaking condition at field. The tube suction tests showed that the cement-sand can be classified as good quality base material based on the dielectric value.