Strength Characteristics and Micro-Mechanism of Silty Soil Modified by Red Mud Co-Cement

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript studies the strength characteristics and micro-mechanism of silty soil modified by red mud co-cement. Research has been conducted on mechanical properties such as unconfined compressive strength, and the optimal improvement scheme has been determined. This has certain research significance in the use of red mud in road engineering, but there are some problems worth considering.

1. There is a lack of necessary transition between the purpose and the first sentence in the abstract. It is recommended to add one or two sentences to introduce the relationship between red mud and the purpose of the study.

2. Please briefly describe the Chinese standard for high-grade highway base strength.

3. In section 1.1, "Moreover, the specific radioactivity … is 2.63" is derived from experiments? If so, whether it is the same experiment as Table 4, and it is recommended to improve Table 4. If not, it is recommended to add explanations.

4. It is recommended to explain after each chart, rather than explaining a large number of charts before placing a large number of charts.

5. In the introduction of compaction test, how do you determine that each layer is compacted for 27 blow times?

6. How is the unconfined compressive strength calculated? It is recommended to add the calculation formula and explanation of the formula.

7. What is the basis for setting test parameters in microstructural test?

8. How is the ratio of red mud content determined in the test?

9. In order to facilitate readers' comparative analysis of experimental results, it is recommended to add experiments with a cement content of 6% and a curing age of 7d to Table 5.

10. In the chapter on thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis, it is recommended to divide it into multiple paragraphs according to different stages for the convenience of readers' understanding and comparison.

11. Whether other test materials other than red mud in the study will interact with red mud, and whether this will affect the accuracy of the test results.

12. Check the correct format of all details in the manuscript, including abstracts, chapter headings, and tables.

In a word, the author must sort out the logic of the article according to the writing norms of scientific papers, check all the details of the article, and modify the unclear description of the manuscript content. If the author considers continuing to publish the paper in this journal, he should submit it again after checking.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Overall, the article is interesting and the authors have done a thorough job. They present the tests well and the presentation of the results is good. Nice research work.

However, the structure of the article could be improved. The chapter numbering is wrong. I recommend that explanatory text be inserted between Tables 1 and 2 and between Figures 1 and 2. It would also be good to write the titles on the axes of the diagrams. Figure 4 is excessively large compared to the others. Figure 5 is difficult to read. The naming of Figures 8, 9 has slipped to the next page. 

Editorial errors make the article difficult to understand. I strongly recommend correcting them.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

The work on Strength characteristics and micro-mechanism of silty soil modified by red mud co-cement well organized and nicely written.

Hereby comments to improve the article for better readability 

1.Add flow/process diagram 

2. Compare results charts 

3. Use some more SEM images for better interpretation of results 

4. Conclusion should be precise 

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Thanks for the author's careful answer to the reviewer's comments. Reviewer is satisfied with the revised manuscript and thinks it can be accepted after proper improvement.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf