Sodium sulfate, as a commonly used early strengthening agent, has been widely used in different areas. Because of its sulfonic acid group, sodium sulfate is also used as a cement capillary crystal waterproof material. However, temperature has a significant effect on concrete mixed with sodium sulfate. The effect of sodium sulfate on the early hydration rate at different temperatures was studied by conducting a time and hydration thermal analysis. The effects of sodium sulfate on the mechanical properties of concrete at different temperatures were studied through compressive strength experiments. Impermeability at different temperatures was studied by testing resistance to chloride ion penetration and resistance to water penetration. The effect of resistance to sulfate attack was also experimentally. The hydration products were analyzed by electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The experimental results showed that at low temperature, sodium sulfate can accelerate the early hydration reaction rate, and the effect becomes weaker with increasing temperature. At low temperature, the addition of sodium sulfate can effectively improve the degree of hydration, and enhance the permeability resistance and ion erosion resistance of the matrix.

In this paper, iron ore tailings (IOT) were separated from the tailings field and used to prepare cement stabilized macadam (CSM) with porous basalt aggregate. First, the basic properties of the raw materials were studied. Porous basalt was replaced by IOT at ratios of 0, 20 %, 40 %, 60 %, 80 %, and 100 % as fine aggregate to prepare CSM, and the effects of different cement dosage (4 %, 5 %, 6 %) on CSM performance were also investigated. CSM’s durability and mechanical performance with ages of 7 d, 28 d, and 90 d were studied with the unconfined compression strength test, splitting tensile strength test, compressive modulus test and freeze-thaw test, respectively. The changes in Ca2+ content in CSM of different ages and different IOT ratios were analyzed by the ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) titration method, and the micro-morphology of CSM with different ages and different IOT replaced ratio were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that with the same cement dosage, the strengths of the IOT-replaced CSM were weaker than that of the porous basalt aggregate at early stage, and the strength was highest at the replaced ratio of 60 %. With a cement dosage of 4 %, the unconfined compressive strength of CSM without IOT was increased by 6.78 % at ages from 28 d to 90 d, while the splitting tensile strength increased by 7.89 %. However, once the IOT replaced ratio reached 100 %, the values increased by about 76.24 % and 17.78 %, which was better than 0 % IOT. The CSM-IOT performed better than the porous basalt CSM at 90 d age. This means IOT can replace porous basalt fine aggregate as a pavement base.