Triaxial testing of kaolin-cement mixture: Laboratory program and preliminary results

Mixing dry cement with soft and deep clay deposits is becoming a popular means of improving poor ground conditions, particularly in Southeast Asia where populations are high and compressible ground with high moisture contents is common. While this ground improvement technique is being applied more often, the strength/deformation behaviour over the long term and the soil structure of the clay-cement mixture is not well understood. A detailed laboratory program is near completion. Drained and undrained triaxial tests were performed on kaolin-cement mixtures, at moisture and cement contents of 70 and 100% and 2, 5 and 10%, respectively. Samples were cured in distilled water for 7 to 112 days. Conventional laboratory tests were also performed. In this paper, the laboratory testing program is described and various sample preparation techniques are discussed. Preliminary triaxial compression test results and trends at varying moisture contents, cement contents, confining pressures and curing times are presented.