Amorphous peat is a type of peat where its moisture content is constantly high which is more than 200% based on a case study by Kazemian et al., 2011. According to Huat, 2004, amorphous peat is also highly humified where any plant components in the peat itself is very indistinct or invisible with its colour of being more to of a darker side of a brown colour. This type of peat has high to medium composition of organic matter where, it’s fiber content is less than 33% (Huat, 2004). Furthermore, when amorphous peat is tested through the Von Post Squeeze test to determine its degree of humificatiom, amorphous peat are likely to fall into the category of H7 to H10 of the Von Post scale where the degree of decomposition is high …show more content…
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is the type of cement usually used in Civil Engineering scope of works. In this part, the discussion about cement as a stabilizer will be done from part 2.5.5.2 until 2.5.5.5. The parts include discussion about the concept of cement as stabilizer, stabilization with peat, water cement ratio and optimum percentage of cement that were used in peat stabilization obtained from journals read. Cement in peat stabilization is well known to undergo primary cementation process which commonly produce calcium dioxide Ca(OH)2 once react with water. In detail explanation after the basic reaction will be explained further in part 2.5.5.2. Water cement ratio (wcr) also is important as water is a major part of the cementation process. The explanation of wcr will be in part 2.5.5.3. However, acidic properties of peat has an adverse effect on the cementation process which will be explained in part …show more content…
Any amount of cement when added with water will undergo the process of hydration. As for soft soil stabilization like peat soil, the huge amount of water contained in the soil itself will interact with the cement itself, forming primary cementation products that are ettringite (C6AS3H32), (C3S2H4), hydrated lime (CH) and monosulphate (C4ASH12) (Janz & Johansson, 2002; Wong et al., 2009). From that process, it produced a cement paste that will harden when hydration takes place. That paste will act as a binder between adjacent cement grains, forming a hard, skeletal matrix that will enclose soil particles (Zulkifley, 2014). The hydration process of cement is quick when it is not cured. In the case of soils stabilization, curing for 7 days, 28 days or more will increase the strength of the soil. However, the high amount of water present in peat soil may result in a lower strength with higher porosity of the hardened soil-cement mix (Zulkifley, 2014). An adequate percentage of cement should be added in relative to the wet weight of the peat soil should be done before the mixing