Influence of curing temperature on the strength of cement stabilised artificial clays

The paper present results of a laboratory investigation on the influence of curing temperature and time on the mechanical characterisation of cement-stabilised clays as used in deep soil mix applications. Numerical modelling, based on the Arrhenius equation, is also presented. Experimentally, this model was applied to a series of tests performed at different temperatures. For each temperature, unconfined compressive strength tests were performed at specific time intervals in order to follow the curing and the increase of strength with time. The clay used was artificial clay made up of 40% kaolin clay and 60% of silt (using silica flour). Three different water contents were used to compare the performance of different soft clays. The results showed that the strength increases with the temperature. It was also found that the activation energy is the same for all three water content clays. Using the numerical modelling long-term behaviour of up to 2.4 years was predicted.