Impact of cement dosage and curing duration on mechanical properties of cement-soil and cost-benefit analysis

Soft soil is classified as a special type of soil due to its poor engineering properties, and it can be recycled into cement-soil through cement stabilization. This study examines the impact of cement dosage and curing duration on the mechanical properties of cement-soil through the unconfined compression tests. Results indicate that the cement significantly enhances the mechanical properties of soft soil through the synergy action of cement dosage and curing duration. The impact of cement dosage was more pronounced, as reflected in the stress-strain relationship curves and mechanical parameters of cement-soil. Along with the increase in cement dosage, the variation in the peak stress and pre-peak strain energy of cement-soil followed linear function, the variation in the tangent modulus followed an S-shaped logistic function, and the variation in the peak strain followed an exponential decay function. In addition, an economic benefit index was proposed to determine the optimal dosage of cement according to the cost-benefit analysis method. Results reveal that the cement dosage of 6% was deemed as the optimal dosage for the solidification of soft soil in Jiaxing area.