Durability of Lime-Fly Ash Stabilized Soil Activated by Calcined Phosphogypsum

Stabilized soil is widely used as road base and sub-base materials, and is sometimes used as covering for waste matter in China. In soil stabilization, the property of a locally available soil are usually modified though chemical stabilization[1]. Cement stabilization and lime stabilization are the two most commonly used methods. Lime-fly ash stabilized soil has been widely applied in road engineering due to its good integrity, great bearing capacity, high stiffness, and water-proofing quality[2-4]. One disadvantage of lime-fly ash stabilized soil is that without any additives, its inherent low initial strength makes it inappropriate for use under low-temperature conditions. Researchers have found that the pozzolanic reactivity among lime, fly ash, and soil contributes to the strength of lime-fly ash stabilized soil. To increase the initial strength of lime-fly ash stabilized soil, many approaches have been used to accelerate the pozzolanic reaction. Sulfate activation is one of the methods that has been widely investigated, specifically, Na2SO4 and CaSO4[5]. PG, another sulfate, has also been investigated. However, existing studies have limited to the investigation of the development of strength of the stabilized soil as road base and sub-base materials. The effect of PG on the durability of stabilized soil has rarely been implicated. This work aims to study the effect of thermally treated PG (400°C) on the properties of durability, in addition to other aspects, of lime-fly ash stabilized soil. Lime-fly ash stabilized soil with different proportions of calcined PG were prepared and cured at normal conditions for 7 d and 28 d. Mass loss and strength loss under different treatments were determined. X-ray diffraction(XRD) patterns and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) photos were examined to gauge whether improvements in the performances of the stabilized soil can be obtained by use of thermally treated PG.