Mechanical behavior, mineralogy, and microstructure of alkali-activated wastes-based binder for a clayey soil stabilization

•Mechanical and microstructural behavior of a clayey soil stabilized by an alkali-activated binder composed of two residues.•Experimental design to analyze the mechanical behavior of soil-alkali activated binder, and soil-Portland cement mixtures.•Porosity/binder content index as a reliable parameter when evaluating soil stabilization. This paper evaluated the mechanical and microstructural behavior of a clayey soil stabilized by an alkali-activated binder composed of two residues (sugarcane bagasse ash and hydrated eggshell lime) and sodium hydroxide. The sugarcane bagasse ash, an agro-industrial waste, contains high aluminosilicates content (64.74 % silica and 13.25 % alumina), needed for alkali-activation processes; calcium additions from the lime (72.90 % calcium oxide) allow curing at room temperatures. An experimental design analyzed the mechanical behavior of soil-alkali activated binder, and soil-Portland cement mixtures. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS), tensile strength (STS), stiffness (G0), durability (accumulated loss of mass, ALM), and matric suction tests, and XRD and SEM-EDS investigations were performed. Statistical analysis showed a higher influence of the dry unit weight over the binders’ mechanical results. In addition, binders presented similar mechanical results for mixtures cured in room temperature (23 °C) (e.g., UCS around 5 MPa for high density-high binder content samples with 30 % moisture content, and STS around 0.6 MPa for high density-high binder content samples with 28 % moisture content). For both binders, the lowest ALM was 1.63 % for high density-high binder content samples. The porosity/binder content index was a reliable parameter when evaluating soil stabilization. XRD and SEM analysis of alkali-activated samples showed, respectively, an amorphous hump attributed to disordered structures (CSH and (C,N)-ASH) and soil particles embedded in a cementitious matrix. Higher temperature (40 °C) and curing period (28 days) resulted in a denser structure.