To improve the strength of cement-treated sand effectively, the use of various cement types was investigated at different curing temperatures and compared with the results obtained from similar mortars at higher cement contents. The compressive strengths of cement-treated sand specimens that contained high early-strength Portland cement (HPC) cured at elevated and normal temperatures were found to be higher than those of specimens that contained ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and moderate heat Portland cement at both early and later ages. At 3 days, the compressive strength of the HPC-treated sand specimen, normalized with respect to that of the OPC under normal conditions, is nearly twice the corresponding value for the HPC mortar specimens with water-to-cement ratio of 50%. At 28 days, the normalized value for HPC-treated sand is approximately 1.5 times higher than that of mortar, with a value of 50%. This indicates that the use of HPC contributed more to the strength development of the cement-treated sand than to that of the mortar, and the effects of HPC at an early age were higher than those at a later age. These trends were explained by the larger quantity of chemically bound water observed in the specimens that contained HPC, as a result of their greater alite contents and porosities, in cement-treated sand. The findings of this study can be used to ensure the desired strength development of cement-treated soils by considering both the curing temperature and cement type. Furthermore, they suggested a novel method for producing a high internal temperature for promoting the strength development of cement-treated soils.
Keywords: cement-treated soil; chemically bound water; elevated temperature; high early-strength Portland cement; mortar; thermal analysis.