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Article · Cold Regions Science and Technology · November 1, 2026

Mechanical behavior and pressure-dependent strength modeling of cemented frozen sand

James Innocent Ocheme, Moon Sung-woo, Alfrendo Satyanaga, Jong Kim

Alfrendo Satyanaga Nio
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Abstract

Cement stabilization is widely employed to enhance the mechanical properties of frozen soils. However, existing strength criteria for frozen soil often do not explicitly account for the effects of cement content and curing time. This study investigates the mechanical behavior of frozen sand stabilized with calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement at dosages of 0%, 5%, and 10%. A series of triaxial compression tests were conducted on specimens cured for 3, 14 and 28 days under varying confining pressures at a constant temperature of −10 °C. The findings show that CSA cement significantly increases the strength of cemented frozen sand, with strength gain increasing with cement content. Based on these results, a pressure-dependent semi-empirical strength criterion is proposed within the p − q stress space that explicitly incorporates the effects of cement content and curing time on strength parameters. The criterion parameters have clear physical meaning and reflect the development of cement-induced bonding over curing time. The predictive capability of the proposed formulation was validated against experimental data, yielding coefficients of determination (R 2 ) ranging from 0.902 to 0.944 and root mean square errors (RMSE) between 0.150 and 0.303. The proposed criterion effectively captures the nonlinear strength behavior of cemented frozen sand and provides a useful framework for predicting the strength of cement-treated frozen soil over the ranges of cement content, curing time and confining pressure examined.

Geotechnical Engineering and Soil StabilizationGeotechnical Engineering and Soil MechanicsGrouting, Rheology, and Soil Mechanicscalcium sulfoaluminate cementcement contentcuring time

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