Changes in the Strength and Leaching Characteristics of Steel Slag-Oil Shale Residue-Based Filling Paste in a Complex Erosive Environment

Abstract

Our research group prepared a new filling paste consisting of steel slag–oil shale residue and no admixtures. It was used as the research object to explore the combined effect of chloride and dry–wet cycling-driven erosion on the long-term stability of a cemented filling paste made of total solid wastes. Macroscopic experiments and microscopic analyses methods were employed. The influence of solutions with different mass fractions of chloride salts and different cycling periods on the uniaxial compressive strength and toxicity of the steel slag–oil shale residue-based filling paste was studied, and the deterioration mechanisms of the steel slag–oil shale residue-based filling paste under combined erosion from chloride and dry–wet cycling were investigated. The test results showed that in the same cycling conditions, the strength of the steel slag-oil shale residue-based filling paste increased first with the increase in the mass fraction of the chloride solution and then decreased with the increase in the mass fraction of the chloride solution after reaching the peak value; the leached concentrations of heavy metal ions decreased with increasing chloride salt mass fraction. With an increase in the number of dry–wet cycles, the compressive strength of the specimens in the chloride salt solution with a mass fraction of 0 (pure water) first increases and then tends to be stable. The strength of samples in 5% and 10% chloride salt solutions increased first and then decreased with an increase in the number of dry–wet cycles. The leached concentrations of heavy metal ions from the samples in all three solutions first decreased and then stabilized. The prehydration products of the steel slag–oil shale residue-based filling paste were C-S-H gels, AFt and Friedel’s salt, and these increased with increasing chloride salt mass fraction and the number of dry–wet cycles. However, the hydration reactions of the samples in the 0% chloride solution nearly stopped in the later stages of cycling, and the samples in 5% and 10% chloride salt solutions developed local cracks due to the accumulation of hydration products. The results showed that the number of dry–wet cycles and the chloride salt mass fraction affected the strength and leaching characteristics of the steel slag–oil shale residue-based filling paste by changing the type and amount of erosion products. The test results provide a scientific basis for the promotion and application of backfilling pastes made from total solid wastes.