Closure to 'Laboratory and Field Evaluation of KR Slag-Stabilized Soil for Paving Applications' by Patricio Moreira Pires, Jamilla Emi Sudo Lutif Teixeira,Daiana Valt Nepomuceno, and Elaine Cristina Furieri

摘要

The writers would like to thank the discussers for their acknowledgment of the research presented in the original paper, for the interesting model to predict soil-cement strength they presented, and for their question about kambara reactor (KR) slag properties. In the original paper, we presented some geotechnical characteristics of the studied soils. The S1 soil was characterized as an A-7-6 with California bearing ratio (CBR) values of 22.7% and 25.3% at intermediate and modified proctor energy, respectively. Therefore, it is considered weak to poor soil for pavement subgrade application. However, with the addition of KR slag, the CBR values increased tremendously, reaching values of up to 132%. The discussers asked about the possibility of KR having some cementi-tious properties, which could explain such a great increment in soil strength. This hypothesis was also considered by the writers at the initial stage of this research. One of the first experimental characterizations performed in the KR was the pozzolanic material requirement, according to Brazilian standard NBR 12653 (ABNT 2014). The writers verified [data from this experiment are presented in Oliveira et al. (2019)] that the required values of the SiO_2 + Al_2O_3 + Fe_2O_3 content and the pozzolanic activity index did not meet the required standard limits. Taking this into account, the writers did not rule out the occurrence of some pozzolanic activities, but it is believed that some other chemical reactions (such as cation exchange) might be predominant, given the high percentage of CaO available according to the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) characterization presented in the original paper. The writers are evaluating the chemical and microstructure mechanisms in the soil-KR interactions.