Mechanical Characteristics and Macro–Microscopic Response Mechanisms of Cemented Paste Backfill under Different Curing Temperatures

Abstract

Macroscopic and microscopic properties of cemented paste backfill (CPB) were studied through uniaxial compressive testing, acoustic emission (AE) monitoring, and microscopic feature analysis. The research shows that the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and elastic modulus have an exponential function type positive correlation with the increase in curing time and a polynomial function type with the rise of curing temperature; the mechanical parameters reach the maximum when the curing temperature is 40 °C. Increasing the curing time and curing temperature can promote the transition from shear crack to tensile crack. Increasing the curing time and raising the curing temperature both promote the transition of shear crack to tensile crack in the CPB. Overall, the crack mode is a combination of tensile and shear crack. At room temperature, the shear cracks dominates in the initial stage, but the proportion of the shear cracks decreases as the pressure increases in uniaxial compression test. At a curing temperature of 60 °C, the crack mode transitions to a tensile-shear mixed crack, with tension becoming the dominant crack mode. Microscopic analysis suggests an excellent linear correlation between the pore fractal dimension, UCS, and elastic modulus. When the pore fractal dimension decreases, the mechanical parameters also decrease. The pore fractal dimension can effectively characterize the macroscopic mechanical properties. Finally, the curing temperature is divided into two stages, with 40 °C as the dividing line for analysis. In the first stage, the increase in curing temperature effectively improved the mechanical parameters; in the second stage, the excessively high hydration reaction rate weakened the mechanical parameters.