PS

a certain modulus potassium silicate

is a kind of inorganic chemistry materials to protect and reinforce earthen relics. It is proved that PS material can enhance soil strength and the resistance of external environment damage by nearly twenty years of practice. However

the reinforcement mechanism and related improvement of macroscopic properties are not fully understood and invested until now. To contribute to this field of research

Liangzhu earthen relics soil specimens with initial water contents of 13%

17%

19%

21% and 25% are reinforced by PS with 3% volume concentration through infiltration method. After that

scanning electron microscope (SEM)

mercury intrusion porosimeter (MIP) and direct shear test are employed to compare the difference between unreinforced specimens and reinforced specimens respectively. Based on bimodal pore size distribution obtained by MIP and SEM

two sorts of microcosmic reinforcement mechanisms of PS

which are represented by indexes P1 and P2

are proposed to characterize the two mechanisms. Through the study

the above two indexes of specimens can characterize the variation of improved properties such as shear strength characteristic and soil-water characteristic curve very well at different reinforcement water contents. These conclusions provide a further research method and means for the application of PS material.