Durability Deterioration of Geopolymer Stabilized Soft Soil under Sodium Sulfate and Magnesium Sulfate Attack: A Comparative Study

Sulfate attack is one of the non-negligible factors that induces deterioration in the performance and life cycle of soil stabilizers. In this paper, the degradation mechanism of the durability of slag-fly-ash-based geopolymer stabilized soft soil (hitherto referred to as SF-GSSS) under the sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) and magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) attack environment is comparatively investigated, and the slag/fly ash ratios are set to S10F0, S9F1, S8F2, and S7F3. The SF-GSSS was fully immersed in a 2.5% Na2SO4 solution and 2.5% MgSO4 solution, respectively, to characterize the deterioration rules via visual observations, an unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test, and by mass change. The effect of sulfate on the microstructural characteristics of the SF-GSSS were determined by different microanalytical means, such as by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the SF-GSSS immersed in a MgSO4 solution displayed significant physical deterioration, but not when in a Na2SO4 solution. The mass growth of the SF-GSSS when immersed in a Na2SO4 solution was significantly lower than when it was immersed in a MgSO4 solution at the same immersion age. The rate of strength loss was lowest for S9F1 and highest for S7F3 at the end of immersion, regardless of its immersion in Na2SO4 or MgSO4 solutions.