Experimental Investigation of Unconfined Compression Strength and Microstructure Characteristics of Slag and Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Stabilized Riverside Soft Soil

To solve the issues of insufficient early strength of cement stabilized soil and high resource cost, high reduction cost, and high environmental cost induced by the application of cement, the slag and fly ash-based geopolymer was adopted as the stabilizer to treat riverside soft soil. This study mainly investigated the effects of stabilizer content, slag-to-fly ash ratio, and alkaline activator content on the strength of geopolymer stabilized soils with different curing ages. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray energy spectrum analysis (EDS) tests were carried out. The results show that the stabilizer content, slag–fly ash ratio, and alkaline activator content have a decisive influence on the UCS of geopolymer-stabilized soil. The mix-proportions scheme of geopolymer stabilized riverside soft soil, with a geopolymer content of 15%, a slag–fly ash ratio of 80:20, and an alkaline activator content of 30%, is considered optimum. It is proven by SEM that the uniformly distributed gelatinous products formed in the geopolymer-stabilized soil bind the soil particles tightly. Moreover, the EDS analysis confirms that the gelatinous products are mainly composed of C-S-H gel and sodium-based aluminosilicate (N-A-S-H).