ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Strength Characteristics and Mechanism of CMK
Cement Soil in a Na2SO4 Solution Environment
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1
Engineering Test Center, PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited, Hangzhou 310014, China
2
College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
3
College of Civil Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
4
Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of Shanxi Province, Taiyuan 030024, China
Submission date: 2023-08-04
Final revision date: 2023-09-01
Acceptance date: 2023-09-21
Online publication date: 2023-11-23
Publication date: 2024-01-22
Corresponding author
Xiaohong Bai
College of Civil Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(2):1267-1276
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ABSTRACT
Coal-bearing metakaolin (CMK) is a highly active volcanic material. In this study, the
compressive strength of CMK cement soil was tested, along with five CMK samples cured in different
concentrations of Na2SO4 solution. The compressive strength of the CMK cement soil first increased
and then decreased with increasing Na2SO4 concentrations. When the Na2SO4 solution concentration
was 18 g/L, the compressive strength of the CMK cement soil reached its maximum value. Additionally,
X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the chemical reactions between the CMK cement soil and Na2SO4
solution and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to analyze the phase composition and
microstructure of the CMK cement soil, respectively. Thus, the pore distribution of the CMK cement
soil could be calculated and classified from a 500× magnification SEM image using Image-ProPlus6.0
analysis software. This study explains the mechanism of curing CMK cement soil in a Na2SO4 solution
based on its phase analysis, microstructure, and pore distribution.