Experimental Study on Lime-Treated Waste Soil Based on Water Transfer Mechanism

Abstract

A large amount of waste soil (mud) is being produced from the construction of civil and infrastructures. As a result, resource utilization of the waste soil has become even more important in geotechnical engineering community. This study quantitatively investigates the underlying modification mechanism of lime-treated waste soil based on water transfer mechanism. Content of different types of water was first measured, and content of each hydration product and the Atterberg limits of soils before and after the lime treatment were then analyzed. It is found the mechanism of lime treatment is to transfer free water with low potential energy to bound water and hydration water with high potential energy. In addition, the formation of hydrates gel mainly improves soil plasticity by affecting the limit of soil plasticity. The hydration water can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment and the growth potential.