Abstract: Foamed mixture lightweight soil using river sludge (FMLSS) is an inhomogeneous composite material composed of solid soil and micropores. The structural shape and distribution of micropores are main factors influencing the mechanical properties of FMLSS. In this article, the correlation between FMLSS’s mechanical properties and micropore’s mesoscopic characteristic is studied to reveal the strength and failure mechanism of FMLSS by means of physical mechanical tests and numerical simulation. According to the simulation and test measurement, large diameter micropore and the uniformity of diameter distribution are important factors that affect FMLSS’s mechanical properties; secondly, the air foam content and cement content in FMLSS are also main factors that affect FMLSS’s mechanical properties.

Key words: foamed mixture lightweight soil using river sludge, image processing techniques, finite element analysis, plastic zone, stress distribution