Experimental study of strength of cement solidified peat at ultrahigh moisture content

Peat soil has the characteristics of high moisture content, large void ratio and low shear strength. In this study, unconfined compressive strength and SEM tests are conducted to investigate the effects of ultrahigh moisture content, cement content, organic content and pH value on the strength of solidified peat. As an increase in the cement content and curing period, the failure mode of solidified peat soil changes from ductile failure to brittle failure. The influence of moisture content on the strength of solidified peat is greater than the cement content. As cement content increases from 10% to 30%, strength of solidified peat at a curing age of 28 days increases by 161%~485%. By increasing water content by 100%, decreases of solidified peat at a curing age of 28 days is 42%~79%. Compared with the strength of solidified peat with a pH value of 5.5, the strength of peat with a pH value of 3.5 reduces by 10% ~ 46%, while the strength of peat with a pH value of 7.0 increases by 8% ~ 38%. It is recommended to use filler materials for stabilizing peat soil with moisture content greater than 200%. Because of small size of clay particles, clay added in the cement solidified peat can improve much higher strength that that of sand.