Changes in mineralogy and microstructure of a lime-treated silty soil during curing time

Lime treatment is widely applied to improve the workability and long-term durability of soils. In this study, the curing time effect on the mineralogy and microstructure of lime-treated soil was investigated. The soil samples were prepared with 2 % lime and statically compacted at dry (w = 17 %) and wet (w = 20 %) sides of optimum. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) were performed on lime-treated soil at various curing times. The presence of XRD peaks attributed to portlandite even after 150 days curing time indicated that it was not totally converted in cementitious compounds after reaction with silica and alumina from clay minerals. By contrast, no obvious XRD reflections of well-crystallized cementitious compounds were identified. Furthermore, all samples compacted at dry and wet side of optimum exhibited bi-modal pore size distribution, with a decrease of macro-pore frequency with increasing water content. The microstructure changes with increasing curing time did not follow monotonic tendency. On the whole, the quantities of pores less than 0.006 mu m and micro -pores increased and the quantity of macro-pores decreased with increasing curing time due to the possible creation of poorly crystallized or amorphous cementitious compounds.