Utilization of ladle furnace slag from a steelwork for stabilization of soil cement

Ladle furnace (LF) slag, waste from the steel-making process, was incorporated to improve the compressive strength of soil cement. LF slag was mixed to replace the cement in the soil-cement samples with wt% ratio 20:0, 15:5, and 10:10 of cement and slag, respectively. LF slag in the range of 5, 10, and 20 wt% was also separately added to the 20-wt% cement-treated soil samples. The soil-cement mixed LF slag samples were incubated in a plastic wrapping for 7, 14, and 28 days. The strength of soil cement was highly developed to be higher than the standard acceptable value (0.6 MPa) after incorporating slag into soil cement. The mixing of LF slag resulted in more hydration products for bonding soil particles, and hence improved the strength of soil cement. With the LF slag mixing either a replacement or additive materials in soil cement, the LF slag to cement ratio is considered to be less than 1, while the cement content should be more than 10 wt%. This is to promote a predominant effect of cement hydration by preventing the partially absorbed water on slag particles and keeping sufficient water content for the cement hydration in soil cement.