Fractal theory-based analysis of strength degradation in steel slag powder-stabilized soil under chloride ion environment.

To investigate the impact of chloride ion erosion in marine environments on the microstructure and macroscopic mechanical properties of solidified soil, this study combines fractal theory with image processing techniques to analyze the changes in cement-solidified soil (CS), steel slag powder + cement-solidified soil (SSP-CS), and activator-doped steel slag powder + cement-solidified soil (A-SSP-CS) under different ion erosion conditions. Erosion tests were conducted for 7 to 120 days using seawater, distilled water, and typical corrosive ions in seawater (Cl⁻, Mg²⁺), and the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the specimens was measured. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and OpenCV techniques were employed to process microstructural images of the specimens, extracting and calculating the fractal dimensions.