Abstract: Mud is a soil-water dispersion system with high water content, which is an important component affecting the engineering properties of mud. In this paper, the influence of bound water content and free water content on the shear strength and rheology of slurry was studied by adjusting the content of free water and bound water. Results show that different water form (bond water and free water) has different effect on the shear strength and rheology of slurry. The shear strength, yield stress and plastic viscosity of slurry decrease with the increase of free water content, while increase with the increase of bound water. At low water content, the bound water content is the dominant factor affecting the shear strength and rheology of the slurry; but with the increase of water content, free water content gradually takes the leading role, which means that free water content has a greater effect on slurry properties. The results could be used as reference for type selection of slurry.

Key words: slurry, shear strength, rheology, free water content, bound water content, water content