Strength correlations of cement-mixed soils using data mapping

Development of comparisons and correlations between the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and the undrained triaxial compressive strength, q_u, is essential for generalising performance and optimising the design of cement-stabilised soils. This paper introduces current work in collecting and collating data from a number of research projects involving both laboratory strength tests performed on identical cement-stabilised soil samples. The research project on cement-stabilised Singapore marine clays at the National University of Singapore has been used as an example to explain the work on comparing and correlating results from both tests by normalising data and constructing contour plots. The effect of variables on strength comparison and correlations was evaluated. The variation in strength correlations was found to be dependent on a number of factors including: soil properties, cement content, curing time and stress, total water/cement ratio, confining stress and strain rate. The results showed that at ∼100 kPa confining stress, UCS and q_u, had similar magnitudes. Correlations between strengths and other design variables are discussed and presented.