Frost Resistance and Shrinkage Characteristics of Soil Stabilized by Carbide Slag and Coal Gangue Powder

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors studied the effect of carbide slag and coal gangue powder on Frost resistance and shrinkage characteristics of stabilized subgrade soil. The article has serious shortcomings which need to be addressed before further processing in this journal.

 

1.      Abstract need to be rewritten. Start the abstract with the significance of the research, followed by methods, conclusions, and future recommendations.

 

2.      Introduction is poorly written. It is suggested to revise the whole introduction section following the standard format.

 

3.       Significance and novelty of the research need to be added in the last paragraph of the introduction section. What is the scientific contribution of this research?

 

4.      A discussion section should be improved to describe the main findings of the research and compare with the previous studies. Also, the gaps in the present research area need to be identified, and future study directions are proposed.

 

 

5.      It is suggested to add the future recommendation part.

 

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

Points 1: Abstract need to be rewritten. Start the abstract with the significance of the research, followed by methods, conclusions, and future recommendations.

Response: Thanks for your suggestion. The abstract has been reorganized and revised, and the significance of the research has been added at the beginning, as below:

“With the increase of expressway construction in seasonal frozen soil region, the freeze-thaw problem of subgrade soil has attracted more and more attention. In addition, the comprehensive utilization of industrial solid waste has become an important measure to build a resource-saving and environment-friendly society.” In addition, future recommendations are added in the last sentence, as below:

“Future research needs to focus on the performance regulation of CS-CG stabilized soil, which can make it more widely used.”

Points 2: Introduction is poorly written. It is suggested to revise the whole introduction section following the standard format.

Response: Thanks for your improvement suggestion. The introduction was revised as a whole, and some sentences were added to highlight the research questions and significance, as below:

“However, the related research on the freeze-thaw characteristics of the coal gangue powder and carbide slag composite improved subgrade soil is basically blank.”

“In this study, it mainly discussed the freeze-thaw characteristics and shrinkage characteristics of subgrade soil improved by coal gangue and carbide slag. In addition, the feasibility of its application in seasonal frozen soil region was explored.”

Points 3: Significance and novelty of the research need to be added in the last paragraph of the introduction section. What is the scientific contribution of this research?

Response: Thanks for your suggestion. According to your suggestion, the last sentence of the introduction adds research significance and novelty, as below:

“This study makes up for the research gap of freeze-thaw characteristics and shrinkage characteristics of CS-CG stabilized soil, and provides a reference for solving the freeze-thaw problem of seasonal frozen soil.”

Points 4: A discussion section should be improved to describe the main findings of the research and compare with the previous studies. Also, the gaps in the present research area need to be identified, and future study directions are proposed.

Response: Thanks for your improvement suggestion. The discussion has been added at the end of each section, and compared with previous studies. The research deficiencies and future research directions are also proposed, as below:

“In summary, the UCS of CS-CG stabilized soil is higher than that of lime stabi-lized soil, which is close to that of PC stabilized soil. Compared with previous studies, the performance of CS-CG stabilized soil is better than that of fly ash based polymer stabilized soil and carbide slag stabilized soil [ 10,18 ], which can be used as a sub-grade filler to replace cement stabilized soil.” “In summary, CS-CG stabilized soil has great advantages over PC stabilized soil and lime stabilized soil in strength loss rate and mass loss rate, and has good freeze-thaw characteristics, which is suitable for subgrade filling in seasonal frozen soil region. However, with the difference of soil, fineness of cementitious materials and alkali activator, there may still be differences. Therefore, further research on the freeze-thaw characteristics of different factors is needed in the future.” “In summary, the freeze-thaw cycle will increase the pores and cracks, which will lead to the decrease of strength. However, with the increase of age, the hydration products in the stabilized soil increase, which reduces the trend of pore increase and the performance is more superior.”

Points 5: It is suggested to add the future recommendation part.

Response: Your fine advice was very much appreciated. The recommended part of future research has been added to the abstract, text and conclusion. It is recommended to control the performance of CS-CG stabilized soil, such as changing the type of soil, the fineness of carbide slag and coal gangue, and the type of alkali activator.

Reviewer 2 Report

In this study, the subgrade soil improvement is conducted by adding carbide slag (CS) and coal gangue powder (CG) to replace traditional cementitious materials such as Portland cement (PC) and lime, etc. The authors achieved satisfactory results. The study will help the researchers and designers for sustainable pavement design. Therefore, I recommend the study for publication in sustainability after the following comments.

1.      The manuscript is well written and easy to understand however it is suggested to review by a native speaker.

2.      The introduction should be extended by adding relevant studies, highlighting the research problem, gap, and novelty of the presented study.

3.      The authors conducted many laboratory tests. It is recommended to add a flow chart to describe the whole experimental program.

4.      Figure 4, 5, 6, and 7 need improvement.

5.      The discussion should be extended.

6.      The statistical modeling result can be tabulated, by presenting R², p value, F value.

 

7.      In conclusion, there should be closing remarks after the points, keeping in mind all the outcomes obtained. Moreover, none of the conclusions are related to the directions of the prestigious publication Sustainability.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

This manuscript has been significantly strengthened by the changes made for the revised version. It seems like my worries have been resolved. There are no further questions or concerns from me. 

All things considered, the manuscript is ready for publication.