Experimental Study on CO2 Foamed Concrete Prepared from Alkali-Activated High-Fluidity Pipe-Jacking Spoil in Water-Rich Sandy Strata

Urban underground construction in water-rich sandy strata produces large quantities of high-fluidity pipe-jacking spoil whose high water content, residual conditioning agents and heavy metal contaminants make conventional dewatering and landfilling increasingly unsustainable under carbon peaking and neutrality targets. This study explores a low-carbon route that converts such spoil into CO2 foamed concrete through a coupled alkali activation–CO2 foaming process. Ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash are used as geopolymer precursors, while a CO2-based aqueous foam is introduced as both a pore-forming phase and carbon source. Single-factor tests and an L16(44) orthogonal design are conducted to quantify the effects of CO2 concentration, foam volume fraction, geopolymer dosage and alkali activator content on fluidity, setting time and compressive strength. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is employed to examine pore structure, gel morphology, carbonate precipitation and the interfacial transition zone around spoil particles. The results identify an optimum mix window (CO2 60–80%, foam 70–80%, geopolymer ≈ 20% and alkali activator ≈ 10% of solids) that delivers a fluidity above 210 mm, 28-day strength exceeding 3.0 MPa and a uniform closed-pore network. A multi-scale mechanism is proposed in which physical foaming, chemical carbonation and spoil particle immobilization act synergistically to form a dense gas–solid–soil composite suitable for in situ backfilling.