Hindawi

Advances in Civil Engineering

Volume 2020, Article ID 6410246, 11 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6410246

Research Article
Experimental Study on Mechanical Properties of Fly Ash
Stabilized with Cement

Shengquan Zhou,1 Yongfei Zhang ,1 Dawei Zhou,1 Weijian Wang,1 Dongwei Li,2
and Zhaibang Ke3
1
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001, China
2
School of Civil and Architectural Engineering, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013, China
3
Anhui Key Laboratory of Green Building and Assembly Construction, Hefei 230032, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Yongfei Zhang; 1392324734@qq.com

Received 25 December 2019; Revised 25 June 2020; Accepted 23 August 2020; Published 2 September 2020

Academic Editor: Hui Yao

Copyright © 2020 Shengquan Zhou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.

Cement-fly ash mixture has been commonly used for the foundation treatment projects in the fly ash stratum, as it is effective in
improving foundation bearing capacity and reducing settlement of stratum. In order to figure out the effect of dynamic and static
load on the mechanical properties exhibited by the cement-fly ash and the reaction mechanism of cement-fly ash, a combination of
the unconfined compressive test, impact test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) method was
adopted in this study to investigate the cement-fly ash test samples. As demonstrated by the results, the observed growth rate of
0–60 days (d) is higher than that in the later stages and the typical stress-strain curve can be divided into six sections under the
unconfined compressive test. At the gas pressure of 0.2 MPa, the cement-fly ash samples exhibited obvious plastic properties in
early curing time (0–60 d), and brittle failure was observed in the final stage (90 d). It is obvious that the value of dynamic
compressive strength (DCS) is higher than that of unconfined compressive strength (UCS). The analysis of XRD has revealed that
the hydration products are primarily derived from the hydration reaction of cement in the early stage and the pozzolanic reaction
in the late stage. The pores of cement-fly ash are found to be filled with the hydration products, despite the presence of a mass of
pores in the interior.

1. Introduction the weak stratum where high water content and high
compressibility are a commonplace [8–10].
Thermal power is regarded as one of the most significant To date, plenty of studies have been performed to in-
methods to generate electric energy. However, this pro- vestigate the mechanical properties of fly ash concrete by
cess is frequently used to produce a large amount of fly ash exploring the characteristics of adding fly ash into concrete.
in a solid waste, which makes a safe and effective treat- Meanwhile, the static characteristics of fly ash concrete have
ment [1–3]. Part of the fly ash is utilized as an additive in been analyzed in detail. The relevant results have clearly
other production activities to improve the performance of indicated the changes to the mechanical properties such as
concrete. Otherwise, the fly ash could end up in landfills unconfined compressive strength and microstructure.
[4, 5]. Fly ash stratum is characterized by low bearing Golewski [11] compared 20% and 30% fly ash content on the
capacity, higher settlement, and long settlement period performance of concrete, which led to the discovery that the
due to the presence of fly ash [6, 7]. These properties could strength of the test specimens increased with the fly ash
pose a severe threat to the safety of buildings. The cement- content. Meanwhile, the fracture toughness was enhanced.
fly ash shows advantages such as high efficiency, conve- As indicated by Xiao et al. [12], the initial increase in
nience, and low cost, for which it has been widely used in strength of cement soil mixed with fly ash was lower
2 Advances in Civil Engineering

compared to pure cement soil. After 28 days, the strength of 2. Materials and Methods
fly ash cement-soil increased at a faster pace due to poz-
zolanic reaction. Fan et al. [13] conducted analysis of the 2.1. Experimental Materials. The fly ash used in the exper-
effect created by mortar with different replacement ratios of iment was collected from a construction site located in
fly ash-to-low-heat Portland cement, which led to the Shangyao, Huainan city, China. The field was covered with
conclusion that fly ash could be effective in reducing the total fly ash that is the by-product of a power plant, and fly ash
heat and heat rate of hydration of Portland cement, despite was widely distributed across the plant. To remove soil, the
the hydrate phase species remaining unchanged throughout surface clay layer was removed in the first place, with the
the process. Deschner et al. [14] carried out a study on the depth of soil being 2-3 meters. The undisturbed soil was
hydration reaction of low-calcium fly ash and calcium sil- mostly powdery of gray-brown color, containing agglom-
icate cement from the microscopic point with the assistance erates. The particle size composition of the fly ash is shown
of X-ray diffraction (XRD), obtaining the result that fly ash in Table 1, and the chemical composition index is presented
played role of fillers in the early hydration reaction system in Table 2. According to the table, the fly ash refers to low-
and the content of Ca(OH)2 reduced at a slow pace in the grade and low-calcium raw fly ash.
solution, indicating that the pozzolanic reaction increased The Portland composite cement of the strength level of
the late strength. As the aforementioned studies on the 32.5 was adopted.
mechanical properties of test are primarily focused on the fly
concrete, they could only provide the basic theories on the
2.2. Test Principle. In accordance with the standard of
cement-fly ash system.
Technical code for ground treatment of buildings (JGJ79-
However, the focus of these studies is mainly placed on
2012), the fly ash was first filtered using a 5 mm sieve to
the experimental results obtained under static load. By
remove impurities such as agglomeration and organics,
contrast, the research focusing on the characteristics of
before being placed at 105°C to obtain the dry fly ash.
impact load remains quite limited. With regard to engi-
neering projects, the cement-fly ash foundation is subject to
both static load and dynamic load, for instance, construction 2.3. Preparation Samples of UCS Test. In engineering, the
vibrations, vehicle-induced vibrations, earthquake, and value of cement content was 12% in cement-fly ash, for
other types of dynamic load [15–18]. As for dynamic load, it which the content of cement was set to 12% (mass ratio to
tends to have a significant impact on the performance of dry fly ash) during the production of samples. The relevant
materials and structures, for which it is of great significance parameters of the unconfined compression test are listed in
to conduct a study on the mechanical properties possessed Table 3. The dried fly ash, water, and cement with the mix
by cement-fly ash under dynamic load. proportion were thoroughly mixed in the blender to ensure
At present, the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) uniformity. The 100 mm cube samples were used (with the
device has been extensively applied to assess the dynamic release agent applied evenly in the mold). The molds with
mechanical properties exhibited by the materials with a mixture were placed into the concrete standard curing room
strain rate of 102 s−1–104 s−1 [19, 20]. Chen et al. [21] adopted until the removal of the molds. Subsequently, the cement-fly
the method of SHPB to carry out a study on the dynamic ash samples were placed in a Ca(OH)2 solution for curing
mechanical properties of cement composites with different until the curing time was reached.
fly ash contents, which led to the discovery that the fly ash
cement composites showed strain rate dependency and
maintained plastic flow during the impact process. 2.4. Preparation Samples of SHPB Test. In order to prevent
Mohamed et al. [22] conducted a SHPB test and applied the potential size effect on the split Hopkinson pressure bar
other methods to investigate the mechanical properties of (SHPB) test [24, 25], the mixtures of fly ash cement and
concrete under high-volume fly ash with a strain rate water were poured into a cylindrical mold with a height of
ranging from 30.12 to 101.42 s−1, which led to the results 25 mm and a diameter of 50 mm for the impact test to be
indicating that the impact resistance of fly ash cement conducted. Table 4 shows the relevant parameters of the
specimens was more desirable compared to pure cement. impact test. Both sample production and curing were per-
Chien et al. [23] assessed the influence of two different formed to the same standard as the unconfined compressive
methods (static compression and SHPB experiments) on the test.
cement-fly ash samples, which led to the conclusion that the
strain rate had a more significant impact on the strength. 2.5. Experimental Apparatus
Up to now, a number of studies have been conducted on
the work of fly ash as an ameliorant to enhance the prop- 2.5.1. The Test Machine of UCS. The UCS tests were per-
erties of concrete. However, the number of investigations formed on a WAW-1000 universal test machine at the State
about fly ash stabilized by cement remains limited. There- Key Laboratory of Mining Response and Disaster Prevention
fore, in this work, the unconfined compressive strength test and Control in Deep Coal Mine, Anhui University of Science
and the impact test were adopted to study the mechanical and Technology. As seen from Figure 1(a), the unconfined
properties of cement-fly ash. Meanwhile, the variations in compression test apparatus was used to perform the test, and
microstructure and material were obtained using XRD and Figure 1(b) illustrates the test sample used for unconfined
SEM. compressive test.
Advances in Civil Engineering 3

Table 1: Particle size composition of the fly ash. bubbles emerged from the periphery of mold, and plenty of
Particle size group (mm) Average (%)
free water was precipitated on the surface. After the curing
time had been reached (7 d, 30 d, 60 d, 90 d, 120 d), the
5–2.0 2.17
2.0–1.0 1.06
integrity of the test block reached a satisfactory level. The
1.0–0.5 2.13 samples with flat surface and no obvious holes were selected
0.5–0.25 8.12 for the UCS and DCS tests.
0.25–0.1 77.90
0.1> 8.63
3.1. Analysis of Unconfined Compressive Test Results
Table 2: Chemical composition of fly ash.
3.1.1. The Relationship Curves of Stress-Strain under Static
Chemical composition Average (%) Load. The method of unconfined compressive test is
SiO2 58.49 adopted according to Technical code for ground treatment
Al2O3 29.19 of buildings (JGJ79-2012). The six samples were collected
Fe2O3 4.65 from each group for the unconfined compressive test, with
CaO 2.33
the loading rate set to 3 mm/min. After removal of the error
K2O 1.32
SO3 1.30
data, the average value was taken as the strength value of the
Loss on ignition 0.5 test samples. As shown in Figure 3, it can be seen that the
failure patterns of UCS test samples vary under different
curing times. When the curing time is 30 d, two main cracks
Table 3: The parameters of unconfined compressive test. were presented; in the meantime, transverse expansion
cracks were obtained in the upper parts of sample. However,
Cement Curing time Moisture Samples of each
content (%) (d) content (%) group when the curing time is upregulated to 120 d, a small part of
fragments peeled from the sample and an approximately
7, 30, 60, 90,
12 35.00 6 linear crack was run through the whole sample. It is sug-
and 120
gested that with an increase of curing time, the failures begin
to be changed from the plastic to the brittle deformation.
Table 4: The parameters of dynamic impact test. The stress-strain curves of 7 d, 30 d, 60 d, 90 d, and 120 d
Cement Curing time Moisture Samples of each
of cement-fly ash samples with the cement content of 12%
content (%) (d) content (%) group are shown in Figure 4. When the curing time ranges from 0
to 30 d, the test samples pass through the initial compaction
7, 30, 60,
12 35.00 4 section, and then the elastic phase and the yielding stage are
and 90
presented, respectively. When the curing time is extended
from 30 d to 120 d, a little elastic phase and a platform
segment are observed between the initial compaction section
2.5.2. The SHPB Test Device. As shown in Figure 2, a small and the elastic phase, which suggests that the cement-fly ash
amount of Vaseline was applied to the rounded surfaces for samples show a clear sign of plastic failure in the initial stage
reducing friction [26]. The SHPB test device was employed to of curing time (7 d), and the brittle failure is manifested in
assist with this study, obtained from the School of Civil En- the later curing time. Therefore, the typical relationship of
gineering and Architecture of Anhui University of Science and stress-strain is determined by analyzing the relationship
Technology. The length of the striker bar, incident bar, and between stress-strain and varying curing time, with the
transmitted bar is 0.60 m, 2.40 m, and 1.20 m, respectively. The results presented in Figure 5.
density, elastic modulus, and longitudinal wave velocity of each Figure 5 illustrates the typical stress-strain characteristic
bar are 7.8 g/cm3, 210 GPa, and 5190 m/s. The value of gas curve of cement-fly ash, which can be roughly split into 6
pressure is set to 0.2 MPa in this study. different sections. The first one is the initial compaction stage
(o–a), when the particles are vertically displaced by force and
2.5.3. XRD and SEM Test. In order to establish the reaction the pore volume is reduced. The second one is the initial elastic
mechanism of materials in cement-fly ash, the XRD and stage (a-b), when the curve is approximately straight. The
SEM devices sourced from the Analytical Testing Center of cement-fly ash samples exhibit approximate elastic deforma-
Anhui University of Science and Technology were applied in tion, which is caused by the hydration products and the in-
the study. The XRD patterns of pure fly ash and the cement- clusions of hydrated product. Besides, the particles of fly ash
fly ash sample with different curing time were analyzed by are compacted under the condition of load, and the pore
using MDI Jade software. volume is further reduced. The third one is the platform stage
(b-c). This section lasts from the compaction section to the
3. Test Results and Analysis elastic stage. The hydration products, the inclusion of fly ash
and hydrated products, and the unreacted materials contribute
When the cement-fly ash samples were subject to vibration, to the formation of a stress structure as facilitated by the effect
black bubbles were observed on the surface of the cement-fly of compaction. Moreover, the internal pores of the test sample
ash samples. In the meantime, a large number of colorless are gradually reduced to their minimum. The fourth one is the
4 Advances in Civil Engineering

(a) (b)

Figure 1: The unconfined compressive strength test.

Figure 2: The SHPB test.

(a) (b)

Figure 3: The failure patterns of UCS test samples.

Advances in Civil Engineering 5

3.5
e
3.0 d f

2.5

Stress (MPa)
Stress (MPa)

Peak stress
2.0 c

1.5
b
1.0

0.5 a

0.0 o
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 Strain (%)
Strain (%)
Figure 5: Typical stress-strain characteristic curve of cement-fly
7 (d) 90 (d) ash.
30 (d) 120 (d)
60 (d)
4.5
Figure 4: The static stress-strain curves of cement-fly ash samples.
4.0

3.5
elastic phase (c-d), when the stress is on the rise with strain and
the curve conforms approximately to elastic deformation. The 3.0
UCS (MPa)

fifth one is the yield stage (d-e). As ε increases, the growth rate 2.5
of stress is reduced to zero gradually. Meanwhile, the value of Cv = 13.06% Cv = 15.58%
stress is maximum. The sixth and last one is the failure stage (e- 2.0
Cv = 9.30%
f); as the strain continues to increase, the stress gradually 1.5
declines and the test sample breaks.
1.0 Cv = 6.73%

0.5
3.1.2. The Variation Laws of UCS. As shown in Figure 6, Cv = 24.14%
when the curing time is extended from 7 d to 120 d, the UCS 0.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
increases gradually from 0.64 MPa to 3.14 MPa. The UCS of
Curing time (d)
cement-fly ash samples (7 d) is shown to be 0.64 MPa, and the
UCS at the curing time of 30 d is observed to surge by 115.62%, Figure 6: Variation law of UCS.
to 1.38 MPa. At the curing time of 60 d, the UCS is seen on the
rise from 1.38 MPa (30 d) to 2.32 MPa (60 d), with the rate of
increase reaching 68.12%. Nevertheless, when the curing time Incident pulse
0.6
reaches 90 d, the rate of increase for UCS plunges from 68.32%
(60 d) to merely 18.53% (90 d), while the value of UCS reaches 0.4 Transmitted pulse
2.75 MPa. When the curing time is extended to 120 d, the
growth rate decreases on a continued basis to 14.18%, with UCS 0.2
Voltage (V)

reaching 3.14 MPa, which suggests that the value of UCS in- 0.0
creases with curing time and the growth rate decreases, from 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
115.62% to the minimum value of 14.18%. The variation law of –0.2 Time (ms)
growth rate is that the value of early curing time (0–60 d) is
–0.4
higher than that in the later stage. Reflected pulse
–0.6

3.2. Analysis of SHPB Test Results. As shown in Figure 7, the –0.8

typical waveforms of the cement-fly ash samples are dis-
Figure 7: The typical waveforms of the samples.
covered, including incident pulse, transmitted pulse, and
reflected pulse, and the waveforms are smooth (select the
30 d sample waveforms). time, the degree of broken fragments and amount of
As can be observed from Figure 8, under the condition of powdered materials decrease obviously. In the meantime,
curing time, the cement-fly ash samples display different the size of fragments and the number of broken fragments
patterns of failure depending on fragment size and the increase remarkably, indicating that the degree of sample
number of fragments. At the gas pressure of 0.20 MPa, the integrity increases with the curing time.
failure modes of cement-fly ash are basically powdery with According to the two-wave method, the stress and strain
varying curing time. However, with the increase in curing of the samples can be obtained, respectively [27]. The
6 Advances in Civil Engineering

7d 30 d

60 d 90 d

Figure 8: The failure patterns of SHPB test samples.

relevant analytical formula applied to the determination of There is a lot of information obtained from Figure 10(a),
parameters is expressed as follows: and the cement-fly ash shows variations of compression
2c0 t strength under static and impact load conditions. At the
εS (t) � 􏽚 ε (t)dt, same curing time, the value of DCS is higher than that of
LS 0 r UCS. DIF is defined as the modulus of DCS to UCS, and the
(1)
S E formula of DIF is expressed as follows:
σ S (t) � B εt (t), σ
SS DIF � d , (2)
σS
where εS (t) and σ S (t) represent the strain and stress, re-
spectively, c0, SB, and E denote the longitudinal wave ve- where σ d and σ S represent the stress of SHPB and unconfined
locity, cross-sectional area, and elastic modulus of the bar, compression tests, respectively. In Figure 10(b), the change of
respectively, LS and SS indicate, respectively, the length and the DIF and curing time is observed. When the curing time
the cross-sectional area of the cement-fly ash samples, and increases, the DIF decreases first, and then climbs back. Under
εr (t) and εt (t) represent the reflected pulse and the trans- the 7 d initial curing, the value of DIF is 1.64 but the DIF falls to
mitted pulse, respectively. the lowest value at 1.43 after a curing time of 30 d. In com-
It can be observed from Figure 9(a) that under different parison, the value of DIF increases with curing time, and the
curing times (7, 30, 60, and 90 d), the stress-strain curves of values of DIF with curing time of 60 d and 90 d being 1.66 and
cement-fly ash show different characteristics of failure. For 1.87, respectively. The experimental data indicate that the load-
instance, when the curing time increases from 7 to 60 d, the bearing capacity of cement-fly ash shows different character-
curves exhibit approximate elastic deformation firstly and then istics under the static and impact load conditions, which means
enter platform stage. After the stress peak value, it decreases that the test samples are subjected to the impact test. The
rapidly, indicating a plastic failure. However, when curing for samples absorb more energy than that of static test, indicating
90 d, the typical failure of brittle is shown in the stress-strain that more cracks are produced in the samples and the com-
curve and the stress increases with growth of the strain until pression strength increases.
reaching the peak value. Finally, it decreases gradually. Ad-
ditionally, as seen from Figure 9(b), as the curing time varies,
3.3. Analysis of Microstructure
DCS changes from the initial 1.04 MPa to 5.13 MPa. It is 1.04,
1.99, 3.85, and 5.13 MPa, respectively, suggesting that the 3.3.1. Analysis of XRD Phase. The XRD results of fly ash are
hydration products were generated constantly and the me- shown in Figure 11. The phases of fly ash are mullite phase
chanical performance of cement-fly ash was enhanced. and quartz phase, respectively, as analyzed using the Jade
Advances in Civil Engineering 7

5.5 5.5
5.0 5.0
4.5 4.5 Cv = 4.74%
4.0 4.0
3.5 3.5
Stress (MPa)

Cv = 4.88%

DCS (MPa)
3.0 3.0
2.5 2.5
2.0 2.0
1.5 1.5 Cv = 10.05%
1.0 1.0
0.5 0.5 Cv = 13.62%

0.0 0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0 20 40 60 80 100
Strain (%) Curing time (d)

7 (d) 60(d)
30(d) 90(d)
(a) (b)

Figure 9: Test results of impact test. (a) The stress-strain curves of impact test. (b) Variation law of DCS.

5.5 2.0
5.0
1.9
4.5
4.0 1.8
3.5
Stress (MPa)

3.0 1.7
DIF

2.5 1.6
2.0
1.5 1.5
1.0
1.4
0.5
0.0 1.3
7 30 60 90 0 20 40 60 80 100
Curing time (d) Curing time (d)

UCS
DCS
(a) (b)

Figure 10: Relationship of strength between static and impact load test. (a) The relationship of DCS and UCS. (b) The curve of DIF with
different curing times.

software. Despite this, even a small amount of Fe2O3 and curve B, the gypsum phase disappears, which can explain why
CaO is not observed in the XRD spectrum. the cement has hydrated completely while the diffraction peak
To facilitate the study on the variation laws of material, two of quartz continues a declining trend, indicating that the
samples under the curing time of 7 d (number A) and 120 d pozzolanic reaction of fly ash is the major source of hydration
(number B) were applied to conduct the test of XRD in cement- products in the later stage.
fly ash composition. Figure 12 presents the XRD spectrum of A
and B and fly ash, with the curve A suggesting that the gypsum
has been generated. That is to say, the hydration of cement is 3.3.2. Analysis Results of SEM. The cement-fly ash samples
maintained. In the meantime, the CaCO3 phase has been of A (7 d) and B (120 d) were tested for the SEM, and the
spotted in the spectrum. Nevertheless, in comparison with the results are indicated in Figure 13.
fly ash, the diffraction peak value of quartz shows a sharp As shown in Figure 13, the amount of hydration
decline, which implies the start to the pozzolanic reaction. In products increases with the curing time, suggesting that the
8 Advances in Civil Engineering

14000
♠
12000

10000

Intensity (counts)
8000
♠ ♣
6000 ♣ ♣ ♣ ♠
♣
♣
4000

2000
Mullite phase Quartz phase
0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
2θ (degree)

♣ Mullite phase
♠ Quartz phase
Figure 11: The XRD spectrum of fly ash.

B
Intensity (counts)

Fly ash
Gypsum phase
Quartz phase Ca(CO)3 phase

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
2θ (degree)
Gypsum
Quartz
Ca(CO)3

Figure 12: The XRD spectrums of test samples.

interspace in the cement-fly ash is reduced gradually and later stage. The hydration of ordinary Portland cement is
that the structure of cement-fly ash is made dense due to the primarily 3CaO·SiO2 of the cement clinker minerals
effect of cementation. Under the curing time of 7 d, the C-S- reacting with H2O, and the reaction equation is expressed
H gel gives rise to inclusions by encapsulating microbeads as follows:
and amorphous particles, which are filled in the pores of the
cement-fly ash, despite a large number of pores present in 3CaO · SiO2 + nH2 O � xCaO · SiO2 · yH2 O +(3 − x)Ca(OH)2
the interspace between the inclusions of each other. The (3)
meshy C-S-H gel can be observed after the curing time is
extended from 7 d to 120 d. Under alkaline environment, the The reaction equation is simplified as follows:
pozzolanic activity of fly ash is initiated, the products of the C3 S + nH � C − S − H +(3 − x)CH (4)
fly ash hydrating are attracted to the surface of fly ash
particles, and the interspace continues to diminish. C3S is a gel and has a structure of foil and fiber grain with
From the XRD spectrums and the SEM image, it can be a low crystallization degree. Besides, this structure shows a
known that the cementation of cement-fly ash has two higher bearing capacity. A part of CH is precipitated as a six-
sources, with one being the cement hydration in the early plate crystal, and the rest dissolves into solution to facilitate
stage and the other one being pozzolanic reaction in the the pozzolanic reaction.
Advances in Civil Engineering 9

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f )

(g) (h)

Figure 13: SEM observations of A and B. (a) A1 (×500). (b) B1 (×500). (c) A2 (×2000). (d) B2 (×2000). (e) A3 (×4000). (f ) B3 (×4000). (g) A4
(×6000). (h) B4 (×6000).
10 Advances in Civil Engineering

In alkaline environment, the glass phase on the gray Acknowledgments

surface dissolves at a slow pace, and the active objects of
SiO2, Al2O3 can be obtained. These substances are capable of This research was funded by the Major Universities Natural
reaction with water and CH to generate xCaO·SiO2·nH2O Science Research Project in Anhui Province (KJ2016SD19),
and xCaO·Al2O3·nH2O, and the reaction equations are the National Natural Science Foundation of China
shown as follows: (41977236, 41672278, and 41271071), and the Natural Sci-
ence Foundation of Jiangxi Province (2019ACBL20002). The
SiO2 + xCa(OH)2 +(n − 1)H2 O � xCaO · SiO2 · nH2 O authors sincerely thank the School of Civil Engineering and
(5) Architecture, National Engineering Laboratory for Deep
Shaft Construction Technology in Coal Mine in Anhui
Al2 O3 + xCa(OH)2 +(n − 1)H2 O � xCaO · Al2 O3 · nH2 O University of Science and Technology, for providing the
(6) experiment conditions.

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