Construction and Building Materials 318 (2022) 126016

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Experimental investigations of hydraulic and mechanical properties of

granite residual soil improved with cement addition
Yanru Zhao a, Xiangsheng Chen a, Tiande Wen b, *, Pinghao Wang c, Wanshuang Li d
a
College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
b
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Shantou University, Shantou 515000, China
c
Shenzhen Metro Group Co. Ltd, Shenzhen 518036, China
d
China 20th Metallurgical Group Co., Ltd, Shenzhen 518036, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Granite residual soil is widely distributed in southeastern China. Notably, this soil easily softens when exposed to
Granite residual soil water and is easily damaged when subjected to stress, and these characteristics are not conducive to engineering
Microscopic pore structure construction and underground space development. In this study, computed tomography(CT), mercury intrusion
Saturated permeability coefficient
tests, XRD and SEM techniques are used to examine the improvement of granite residual soil in the Shenzhen
Strength characteristics
area through the addition of cement. The soil micropore structure, saturated permeability coefficient and soil
strength characteristics for improved soil specimens with different cement contents (2%, 4%, 6% and 8%) and
curing durations (3 d, 5 d and 8 d) are examined. The results show that the pore distribution of granite residual
soil has a bimodal structure. In the cement-improved soil, the large pores are eliminated, connectivity of pores is
decreased, and number of isolated pores increases. Moreover, the unconfined compressive strength of the
improved soil is higher than that of the granite residual soil. The introduction of cement contents of 6% can
effectively increase the strength of granite residual soil while decreasing the permeability.

1. Introduction
Granite residual soil is the product of a series of physical and
chemical weathering of the parent rock granite. This soil exhibits typical
regional distribution characteristics due to different geological origins.
Notably, granite residual soils are mainly distributed in South China,
covering 40% and up to 60% of the surface area in Guangdong and
Shenzhen regions, respectively [1]. Granite residual soils with different
weathering degrees exhibit different internal particle size gradations,
clay minerals, and mineral cement contents, owing to a high void ratio
and high liquid limit. However, this soil easily softens when exposed to
water and is easily damaged when subjected to stress. Many engineering
disasters involving granite residual land masses have occurred, such as
surface collapse, instability of foundation pit excavation, and instability
of slopes in the Shenzhen area [2]. Recent engineering disasters indicate
that the existing research on the strength and deformation behavior of
granite residual soil is insufficient, and research on soil improvement
must be performed to prevent disasters.
Many studies have examined the possibility of enhancing the soil
properties, for instance, increasing the shear strength, reducing
settlement, and minimizing swelling problems. Local soils have often
been stabilized through the introduction of various materials to enhance
the soil engineering properties. Cement is a traditional material used for
soil stabilization. Kim et al. and Bahmani et al. conducted a series of
strength, microstructure, and environmental tests to prove the feasibility
of use of novel green binders for residual granitic soil stabilization [3–4].
Bahmani et al. studied the effect of SiO2 nanoparticles on the consis­
tency, compaction, hydraulic conductivity, and compressive strength of
cement-treated residual soil by conducting SEM, XRD and FTIR tests to
identify the underlying mechanisms [5]. Basha et al. studied the stabi­
lization of residual soils by chemically using cement and rice husk ash
and indicated that the addition of 6–8% and 10–15% of cement and rice
husk ash, respectively, was optimal from the viewpoint of plasticity,
compaction and strength characteristics, and economy [6]. Latifi et al.
examined the effectiveness of a new calcium-based powder additive
prepared from biomass silica for the stabilization of tropical residual
laterite soil and clarified the mechanisms associated with the stabiliza­
tion process through spectroscopic and microscopic techniques [7].
However, the evolution mechanism of the microscopic structure of
modified granite residual soil and its influence on the hydraulic

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: tdwen@stu.edu.cn (T. Wen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.126016
Received 31 August 2021; Received in revised form 2 December 2021; Accepted 3 December 2021
Available online 13 December 2021
0950-0618/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Zhao et al. Construction and Building Materials 318 (2022) 126016

Table 1 obtained CT scans and used fractal dimensions to describe the structure
Parameters of granite residual soil. of the large pore space and indicated that large pores dominate the pore
Parameter Granite residual soil space of the soil, thereby significantly influencing this space. These
conclusions were validated by Li et al. and Hu et al. [19–20]. Périard
Specific gravity 2.70
Liquid limit (%) 41.7 et al. [21] examined the particle size distribution and used the pore
Plastic limit (%) 26.2 fractal theory to predict the saturated permeability coefficient and vol­
Plasticity index (%) 15.5 ume deformation of soils. Liu et al. [22] conducted membrane-forming
Initial void ratio 0.91 ability tests and X-ray microtomography examinations to determine the
Initial dry density (kg/m3) 1450
Percentage of sand (%) 30
influence of silane polymer emulsion on the membrane-forming
Percentage of silt (%) 46 behavior and thickness distribution of cement paste.
Percentage of clay (%) 24 Moreover, X-ray diffractometry, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrom­
etry, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy tests have been performed to examine the
mineralogical composition and microstructure of soils [23–25]. These
techniques have also been used to study the microstructure of soils
stabilized using different types of nontraditional additives [26–28]. The
purpose of this study was to use cement to increase the strength of
granite residual soil and optimize its permeability coefficient to rein­
force residual soil slopes and enhance the soil characteristics in the
context of tunnel excavation. Micro-CT, mercury intrusion tests, XRD
and SEM techniques were used to study the improvement of granite
residual soil through cement addition in the Shenzhen area. Specifically,
the soil micropore structure, saturated permeability coefficient and soil
strength characteristics for improved soil specimens with different
cement contents (2%, 4%, 6% and 8%) and curing durations (3 d, 5
d and 8 d) were examined. The influence of the pore distribution and
chemical composition on the permeability coefficient and unconfined
compressive strength were analyzed.

2. Materials and tests

Fig. 1. Grain size distribution curve of weathered granite residual soil collected
at different soil depths.
characteristics remain unclear. The computed tomography (CT) scan­
ning approach has been used to directly evaluate the soil pore properties
and obtain information regarding the spatial distribution of pores [8–9].
Computed tomography scanning is a nondestructive imaging technique
that allows the determination of actual rather than inferred character­
istics of soil pores at millimeter to micrometer scales [10]. This approach
can help identify geometrical features such as the number, size, distri­
bution, shape, and connectivity of macropores in the soil matrix in
longitudinal and transverse cross-sections of soil columns [11–14].
Perret et al. [15] used the CT technique scanning to observe a staining
tracer and studied the water flow path in the macropores of soils. Feng
et al. [16] obtained the CT scan of 45 cylindrical soil pillars and pro­
posed the use of standard cross-sections to quantitatively determine the
basic distribution characteristics of the soil pores. Martínez et al. [17,18]
2.1. Specimen
Granite residual soil specimens were extracted at depths of 0–10 m
using a bucket auger from a foundation pit excavation. The granite re­
sidual soil specimens in this study were classified as SC according to the
Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) [29], with an average mois­
ture content of 26.15%, average void ratio of 0.91, and average density
of 1.45 g/cm3. Moreover, the plasticity index of granite residual soil was
15.5, and the liquid limit was 41.7%. The basic indices of the specimens
are summarized in Table 1. A complete grain size distribution curve,
from gravel to clay size of the granite residual soil, was captured through
wet sieving and hydrometer tests, as shown in Fig. 1.
Modified soil specimens with a dry density of 1.45 g/cm3 and cement
contents of 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% were prepared. An appropriate amount
of granite residual soil was placed in the oven, baked for 24 h, and fully
crushed (passed through a sieve with a 0.75 mm aperture). An appro­
priate amount of distilled water was evenly sprinkled on the soil

Fig. 2. Typical experimental test.

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Y. Zhao et al.
Fig. 3. Illustration of CT scanning image processing.
specimens. The water and soil were well mixed, and the mixture was
allowed to rest to ensure that the soil was moist. Finally, a mold was used
to form a specimen with a diameter of 30 mm and height of 20 mm. Two-
time compaction was conducted to ensure the uniform compaction of
the soil specimen. Moreover, a layer of petroleum jelly was evenly
spread on the inner wall of the ring knife to prevent water from flowing
out of the gap between the soil specimen and inner wall of the ring knife
during the test. The specimens were saturated with distilled water after
vacuum seeding for approximately 2 h and submerged for approxi­
mately 24 h. The specimens were covered with filter paper and water-
permeable stone at the top and bottom to prevent any disturbance
during this process. Finally, the specimens were cured for 3 d, 5 d and 8
d in a laboratory environment, and the following experiments were
conducted (Fig. 2).
2.2. CT scanning tests
The principle of XCT imaging is based on the principle of interaction
between X-rays and matter. When X-rays pass through an object, the X-
rays are absorbed by the matter due to the photoelectric effect, Compton
effect, and electron pair effect, which attenuate the intensity of the rays
[30]. Substances with different absorption coefficients yield CT images
with different gray values. Substances with a high density or high atomic
number, such as soil particles, exhibit a strong absorption of X-rays, and
the corresponding gray value in the image is higher, that is, the color of
the image is lighter. Substances with a low density, low relative mo­
lecular mass, or low atomic number, such as water and air, exhibit a
weak X-ray absorption, and the corresponding gray value in the image is
lower, that is, the image is darker.
The test parameters of the instrument, especially voltage and cur­
rent, also influence the image quality. Scanning was performed using an
X-Radia Micro XCT-400 instrument to obtain two-dimensional cut im­
ages. During the test, X-ray emission energies of 79 kV and 125 μV were
used. A total of 1014 16-bit images with a resolution of 1024 × 1024 and
pixel size of 27.8 μm were obtained. These images were used to extract
the pore distribution of the improved soil. After collecting the CT image
data, 3D analysis software (MATLAB and Avizo) were used to process
the image, and the experimental results were quantitatively analyzed, as
shown in Fig. 3.
2.3. Permeability coefficient
The permeability coefficient is a measure of the rate at which water
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Construction and Building Materials 318 (2022) 126016
can flow through a soil or aggregate. The permeability coefficient of the
residual soil was measured by conducting the falling head test. A vari­
able head infiltration meter was connected to a water pipe to monitor
the extent of the hydraulic gradient on top of the tested specimen. After
ensuring continuous flow, the value of kwas determined as follows:
aL Δh1
k= ln (1)
AΔt Δh2
whereais the cross-sectional area of the water pipe, A is the cross-
sectional area of the specimen, L is the height of specimen,
andΔh1 andΔh2 are the height of the head change in different time
periodsΔt.
2.4. Unconfined compressive strength tests
Unconfined compressive strength tests of cylindrical specimens were
performed at 3 d, 5 d, and 8 d in accordance with BS 1377–7 [31]. The
specimens used for the compression tests were the same three specimens
used in the CT scanning tests and permeability tests. In addition,
comparative tests were conducted.
2.5. Chemical and microstructural tests
To understand the underlying mechanisms of cement-treated resid­
ual soil, mercury intrusion tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
analyses and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses of the treated and un­
treated specimens were performed.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. 3D pore systems
Fig. 4 shows the region of interest (ROI) of a specimen cut from a
cylindrical soil specimen. The volume of the ROI selected in this paper
was 5.12 × 1011 μm3. The grayscale intensity of the microporous area
was smaller and larger than that of the particles and pores, respectively.
This phenomenon occurred due to the smearing and partial volume ef­
fects of X-ray attenuation [32]. The corresponding pore space in the ROI
volume could be calculated, such as the total pore space, connected pore
space and isolated pore space, as shown in Fig. 4 (3D images of 3-
d cement-treated residual soil shown as an example). The connectivity
algorithm was applied in the image processing to obtain the connected
pore space. After subtracting the connected pore space from all pore
Y. Zhao et al. Construction and Building Materials 318 (2022) 126016

Fig. 4. 3D images of 3-d cement-treated residual soil obtained from CT scanning.

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Fig. 5. Change in the porosity with different curing durations for cement-treated specimens.

contribution to the permeability.

Moreover, the total porosity, connected porosity and isolated
porosity associated with each image were calculated, and the proportion
of the corresponding pore space in the ROI volume was determined, as
shown in Fig. 4(a), (d), (e), (i) and (l). For specimens with different
cement contents but the same amount of curing duration, the proportion
of total porosity gradually decreased with increasing cement content.
After 3 d curing, the total porosities were 0.156, 0.142, 0.103, and
0.081, as shown in Fig. 5. The porosities associated with the image for a
cement content of 6% were 0.126, 0.119 and 0.103 for curing durations
of 3 d, 5 d and 8 d, respectively; the corresponding values for the isolated
porosity were 0.018, 0.017 and 0.026, and those for the connected
porosity were 0.108, 0.102 and 0.077. This finding indicates that the
cement produces hydrates in the soil, which limits the connectivity of
the pores of the soil specimen and increases the number of isolated pores
[22].

3.2. Permeability coefficient

Fig. 6. Permeability coefficient versus cement content. Fig. 6 shows the relationship curve of the permeability coefficient
and cement content. The permeability coefficient decreased with
increasing cement content. The smallest permeability coefficient corre­
sponded to a cement content of 8% after 8 d of curing. This result
spaces, the isolated pore space could be obtained. The connected pore
confirmed that the incorporation of cement reduced the number of large
space gradually decreased with increasing cement content, while the
pores in the soil and eliminated the smaller pores in the soil, likely owing
isolated pore space increased, as shown in Fig. 4. The connected pore
to the formation of calcium silicate hydrate in the soil [25].
space represented the connected volume of flow in or permeability of the
Fig. 7 shows the pore distribution characteristic curve of soil speci­
soil [33–36]. In general, the connectivity of the pore space is the ratio of
mens with different cement contents after curing for 3 d. As shown in
the volume of the connected pores to the total pore volume. A larger
Fig. 7a, the amount of macropores in the residual soil improved by
connectivity of the pore space in rock and soil corresponds to a larger
cement was effectively reduced. Notably, the improvement effect was

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Y. Zhao et al.
Fig. 7. Pore size distribution of CR soil: (a) cumulative curves of pore volume and (b) pore size curves.
relatively inferior when the cement content was 2% and 4% because the
cement content was low, and the cement could not react with all the
pore water in the soil, leading to a limited impact on the macropores. As
shown in Fig. 7b, the pore diameter for the untreated granite residual
soil specimen exhibited a bimodal distribution, ranging from 0.1 to 0.4
µm and 11–100 µm, and the corresponding peak pore volumes were
0.012 ml.g− 1 and 0.013 ml.g− 1. With increasing cement content, the
macropores with diameters distributed in the range 11–100 µm gradu­
ally disappeared. When the cement content was 6%, the pore size
exhibited a single peak distribution. Moreover, the cumulative pore
volume of the sample generally decreased (Fig. 7a). The test results
indicated that the addition of cement could effectively improve the
distribution of the soil pore structure. In particular, when the cement
content was 6% and 8%, the number of macropores was significantly
reduced, as the hydration reaction between cement and pore water in
the soil filled the pores and densified the soil structure [31,43].
Fig. 8 shows the pore network properties associated with different
curing durations and cement contents, which intuitively reflect the
connectivity of the pores of the excavated soil and are directly related to
the permeability coefficient. For the same cement content, the porosity
of the soil sample decreased with increasing curing age, as shown in
Fig. 9. When no cement was added, the porosity of the soil was 0.143,
while the porosities of the soil were 0.1407, 0.1402 and 0.1375 for
curing durations of 3 d , 5 d and 8 d, respectively. When the cement
contents were 2% and 4%, the porosity of the soil did not change
significantly with the curing duration. This phenomenon occurred
because the hydration of cement in the soil was limited, and the amount
of hydration products generated in the pores was relatively small;
therefore, the influence on soil porosity was limited at a small cement
content [31,43]. With the increase in the cement content and curing
duration, the water in the cement and soil could fully react, and the
amount of generated hydrate increased, thereby filling the pores and
reducing the number of connecting pores.
As the number of connected pores decreased, the permeability co­
efficient also decreased, as shown in Figs. 9-10. The cement content and
curing duration directly influenced the porosity of the soil specimens.
The effect of the cement content on reducing the permeability coeffi­
cient was more notable than that on the connected pores. This phe­
nomenon likely occurred because when the cement content percentage
exceeded 4%, the additional water was absorbed and retained by the
cement and soil, resulting in a lower permeability coefficient of the
specimen [5,22]. Moreover, the agglomeration of large amounts of hy­
drates likely intensified the chemical and physical effects of cement on
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Construction and Building Materials 318 (2022) 126016
soil solidification [22]. The small decrease in connected porosity could
be attributed to the formation of aggregates in the cement paste [6].
Similarly, the decrease in permeability shown in Fig. 9 could be attrib­
uted to the reduction in the connected porosity. In addition, at a high
cement content, low permeability coefficients were observed because of
the connected porosity and high pore clogging.
3.3. Unconfined compressive strength
The effect of cement addition on the unconfined compressive
strength of the residual soil is shown in Fig. 11. The addition of cement
led to an increase in the unconfined compressive strength, as reported
previously [37]. Fig. 11 illustrates the effect of the cement content on
the unconfined compressive strength of residual soil obtained at curing
ages of 0 d, 1 day, 3 d, 5 d and 8 d. The addition of cement significantly
enhanced the specimen strength. When the curing time was 0 d, the
maximum strength values of the specimens with 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%
cement contents were 20 kPa, 100.6 kPa, 198.3 kPa and 361.1 kPa,
respectively. The compressive strength of the soil specimens increased
with increasing curing duration. After 3 d of curing, the compressive
strength of specimens with cement contents of 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% was
maximized, with values of 306.2 kPa, 645.4 kPa, 1064.6 kPa, and
1394.4 kPa, respectively. Subsequently, the compressive strength first
decreased with increasing curing duration and later stabilized.
The unconfined compressive strength of the soil sample increased
with increasing curing age for the same cement content. Specifically, the
unconfined compressive strength of the soil maximized on the third day
and later decreased. This phenomenon occurred because the water in the
soil could not fully react due to the low cement content in the early
stage, and the hydrophilic effect of cement was not initiated, resulting in
excess water remaining between the soil particles, which functioned as
free water and influenced the strength of the improved soil. After 3 d of
curing, the free water available for the water supply reaction in the soil
was insufficient, the cement did not fully react to generate crystals to
enhance the connection strength of the soil, and the excess cement was
not connected with the soil particles, resulting in an uneven distribution
of soil strength and reduction in the unconfined compressive strength of
the soil. These were in agreement with the observations by Bahmani
et al. [5] and Basha et al. [6].
The changes observed in the cement-modified mixture could be
attributed to the chemical reaction between SiO2 and Ca(OH)2 during
cement hydration, which accelerated the hydration of the cement in the
soil. The most important peaks related to the effect of cement were those
Y. Zhao et al. Construction and Building Materials 318 (2022) 126016

Fig. 8. Pore network properties (connected pores) for different curing durations and cement contents.

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Fig. 9. Connected porosity versus cement content.

Fig. 10. Permeability coefficient versus connected porosity.
Fig. 11. Effect of the addition of cement on the unconfined compres­
sive strength.
related to calcium hydroxide at 2 theta values of 50.2, 60, and 67.8 [38],
as shown in Fig. 12. The addition of cement to the soil caused the peak of
quartz and kaolinite to decrease at a 2 theta value of 27 and 60, indi­
cating the reaction of kaolinite with cement. The main hydration
product, calcium silicate hydrate, could not be tracked using XRD due to
the amorphous nature of the calcium silicate hydrate cluster, although
the consumption of kaolinite with high plasticity could implicitly
represent the formation of the calcium silicate hydrate network.
After the fifth day, as the pore water content in the soil reduced, the
cement no longer reacted with the soil, causing the unconfined
compressive strength to stabilize [39–40]. The XRD results could
effectively explain the increase in the compressive strength of the
cement-containing specimens. The decrease in the permeability coeffi­
cient was likely related to the increase in the rate of gel formation in the
entire soil matrix.
Five specimens (an untreated specimen and four specimens with 2%,
4%, 6%, and 8% cement contents) were analyzed through the SEM
technique (Fig. 13). As the cement content increased, its influence on the
pore structure of the soil became more significantly (the flakes of kaolin
were alternately stacked). Moreover, the clay sheet contained a large
number of pores and holes. As shown in Fig. 13b-e, several pores be­
tween the particles were filled by the cementitious gel, resulting in the
accumulation of particles with smaller pores and a denser soil matrix,
with most of the pores being filled. This phenomenon could reflect the
reaction between cement and particulate polymer to form a gel. These
reaction products enveloped the soil particles and strengthened the soil.
In addition, the formation of several stable gel reactants likely increased
the bulk density of the soil [41,42]. The SEM analysis results were
consistent with those reported by Ltififi et al. [43].
Fig. 14 depicts the unconfined compressive strength–connected
porosity curve and unconfined compressive strength–permeability
curve. While the unconfined compressive strength increased with the
increasing cement content, the connected porosity and permeability
coefficient of the soil decreased. The change in the soil pore structure
influenced both the strength of the soil and permeability. Maintaining
the unconfined compressive strength and proper permeability are
conducive to the engineering application of residual soil. The results
indicated that cement treatment can effectively reduce permeability
while considerably enhancing the strength, which can be attributed to
the optimization of hydrate distribution and pore size distribution by
cement.

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Y. Zhao et al. Construction and Building Materials 318 (2022) 126016

Fig. 12. X-ray diffractograph of patterns of untreated and cement-treated soil.

Fig. 13. SEM images (10 µm).

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Y. Zhao et al.
Fig. 14. (a) Unconfined compressive strength–connected porosity curve (b) Unconfined compressive strength–permeability coefficient curve.
4. Conclusions
The effects of cement content on the properties of granite residual
soil were examined through a series of CT scanning tests, permeability
coefficient tests, unconfined compression tests, XRD tests and SEM tests.
The following conclusions were derived.
The addition of cement to granite residual soil can help eliminate the
distribution of large pores, reduce the connectivity of pores, and
increase the number of isolated pores. Fewer hydration products
were generated by cement and pore water in soil, and the impact on
the soil pores was relatively limited in the case of low cement content
(2–4%). With the increase in the cement content and curing dura­
tion, the cement and pore water in soil could fully react, and the
generated hydrate could fill the pores, thereby reducing the con­
nected porosity.
The addition of cement to granite residual soil could increase the
unconfined compressive strength while maintaining a high perme­
ability. Samples with 6% cement content exhibited favorable char­
acteristics, such as a notable strength enhancement (994–1100 kPa)
and high permeability (1.4 × 10-5–5 × 10-5 cm/s).
The cement content considerably influenced the strength enhance­
ment. When a high cement content was introduced, it was chal­
lenging to uniformly disperse the cement in the soil specimens,
resulting in the formation of clusters. The cement agglomeration
weakened the interfacial bond and thus reduced the unconfined
compressive strength.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Yanru Zhao: Writing-original draft and data curation. Tiande Wen::
Writing-review & editing and methodology. Xiangsheng Chen: Project
administration. Pinghao Wang: Project administration. Wanshuang
Li: Project administration.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Founda­
tion of China (No. 51978413, 52108330); State Key Program of National
Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51938008, 52090080); Joint
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Construction and Building Materials 318 (2022) 126016
key projects of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (No. L1924061); Shenzhen Science
and Technology program (No. KQTD20180412181337494).
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