{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T18:10:13Z","timestamp":1790014213344,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012547","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2026GXNSFAA00640561"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2026GXNSFAA00640561"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012547","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To address expansive soil swelling\u2013shrinkage distress and the limitations of single carbide slag (brittle failure), pure fiber (limited strength), and cement (high carbon emissions), this study develops a multi-indicator optimization method for carbide slag\u2013polypropylene fiber composite improvement. Twenty-five full-factorial tests were conducted under three schemes: single slag, single fiber, and composite improvement. Six indicators (USR, LSR, VSR, cohesion, internal friction angle, UCS) were used to construct a CRITIC\u2013entropy\u2013TOPSIS model. The new insight brought by this research lies in coupling combination weighting with TOPSIS to eliminate the deviation of one-sided optimal formulas biased toward swelling inhibition or strength growth obtained by conventional single weighting and conventional range analysis, filling the gap of a multi-objective evaluation system balancing indicator conflict and dispersion, and realizing multi-index balanced optimization. The optimal C8P0.3 (8% slag + 0.3% fiber) has a relative closeness of 0.93. Compared to raw soil, USR drops by 77.07%, and cohesion and UCS increase by 164.30% and 71.91%; compared to C8P0, cohesion and UCS increase by 8.56% and 10.16%, relieving brittleness. XRD\/SEM reveal that slag hydration forms rigid C-S-H networks while fibers create flexible 3D networks, jointly achieving rigid\u2013flexible synergy that fills pores and bridges cracks. This work provides an optimization approach for low-carbon expansive subgrade stabilization.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma19183967","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T17:23:17Z","timestamp":1790011397000},"page":"3967","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["CRITIC\u2013Entropy-Weighted TOPSIS-Based Mix Ratio Optimization of Carbide Slag\u2013Polypropylene Fiber-Modified Expansive Soil"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Junhua","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Architecture and Transportation Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China"},{"name":"School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-8915-1407","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiulin","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Architecture and Transportation Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Yuzi","family":"Nie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Architecture and Transportation Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Aijun","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Architecture and Transportation Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Xiong","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Architecture and Transportation Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"60","article-title":"Research progress in ecological treatment of expansive soil","volume":"46","author":"Bai","year":"2024","journal-title":"Chin. 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