scholarly journals Influence of the Activator Concentration and Solid/Liquid Ratio on the Strength and Shrinkage Characteristics of Alkali-Activated Slag Geopolymer Pastes

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Zikai Xu ◽  
Jinchao Yue ◽  
Guanhong Pang ◽  
Ruixia Li ◽  
Peng Zhang ◽  
...  

Geopolymers have distinct advantages such as having energy-saving properties, being an environmentally protective material, and having high mechanical strength and durability. However, the shrinkage of the geopolymer materials is one of the major problems to affect its practical application. In this study, blast furnace slag-based geopolymer pastes were prepared using sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide as activators to investigate the effect of the activator concentration and solid/liquid ratio on strength and shrinkage properties. For a better understanding of the reaction mechanism and microstructure of the geopolymer pastes, a multitechnique approach including scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectra was carried out. The results showed that the geopolymers compressive strength increased significantly as the activator concentration increased. The increase in activator concentration first increased the flexural strength and then decreased and reached the maximum when the activator concentration was 40%. A higher activator concentration, as well as a lower solid/liquid ratio, generally led to serious geopolymers drying shrinkage. These findings are expected to be ascribed from the changes in the content of the alkali-activated product (i.e., hydrate calcium aluminosilicate), which depends on the activator concentration. The increase in C-A-S-H gel (hydrate calcium aluminosilicate) compacts paste densifiers but causes shrinkage fracture concerns. These results provide an appropriate proportion for alkali-activated slag geopolymer pastes with better mechanical strength and antidry-shrinkage cracking properties, which are beneficial for the further applications of geopolymer materials.

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 6962
Author(s):  
Bo Fu ◽  
Zhenyun Cheng ◽  
Jingyun Han ◽  
Ning Li

This research investigates the mechanism of metakaolin for mitigating the autogenous and drying shrinkages of alkali-activated slag with regard to the activator parameters, including concentration and modulus. The results indicate that the incorporation of metakaolin can decrease the initial viscosity and setting time. Increasing activator concentration can promote the reaction process and shorten the setting time. An increase in the metakaolin content induces a decrease in compressive strength due to reduced formation of reaction products. However, increasing activator dosage and modulus can improve the compressive strength of alkali-activated slag containing 30% metakaolin. The inclusion of metakaolin can mitigate the autogenous and drying shrinkage of alkali-activated slag by coarsening the pore structure. On the other hand, increases in activator concentration and modulus result in an increase in magnitude of the autogenous and drying shrinkage of alkali-activated slag containing metakaolin. The influence of the activator modulus on the shrinkage behavior of alkali-activated slag-metakaolin binary system should be further investigated.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 3499
Author(s):  
Bin Chen ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
Jinyou Zhao

The shrinkage of alkali-activated slag (AAS) is obviously higher than ordinary Portland cement, which limited its application in engineering. In this study, the effects of NaAlO2 in mitigating drying shrinkage and autogenous shrinkage of AAS were studied. To further understand the shrinkage mechanism, the hydration products and microstructures were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption approaches. As the partial substitution rate of NaAlO2 for Na2SiO3 increased, the drying shrinkage and autogenous shrinkage reduced significantly. The addition of NaAlO2 could slow down the rate of hydration reaction and reduce the porosity, change the pore diameter and the composition of generated paste and cause more hydrotalcite and tetranatrolite generated—which contributed to reduced shrinkage. Additionally, raising the Na2O content rate caused obvious differences in drying shrinkage and autogenous shrinkage. As the Na2O content elevated, the drying shrinkage decreased and autogenous shrinkage increased. A high Na2O content would cause complete hydration reactions and provoke high autogenous shrinkage. However, incomplete hydration reactions left more water in the paste, and the evaporated water dramatically influenced drying shrinkage. The results indicate that addition of NaAlO2 could greatly mitigate the drying shrinkage and autogenous shrinkage of AAS.


2017 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 13-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailong Ye ◽  
Christopher Cartwright ◽  
Farshad Rajabipour ◽  
Aleksandra Radlińska

2018 ◽  
Vol 761 ◽  
pp. 45-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladyslav Omelchuk ◽  
Guang Ye ◽  
Rayisa Runova ◽  
Igor I. Rudenko

Nowadays, alkali-activated cements (AACs) are the most promising alternatives to ordinary portland cement (OPC). Such cements characterized by better strength and corrosion resistance that determine improved durability of materials based on them. However, the shrinkage of AAC systems is noticeably higher compared with OPC. The purpose of this work was to study the shrinkage behavior of alkali-activated slag cement (AASC) pastes. To improve early age performance of AASCs – OPC and Ca(OH)2, as mineral additives, were added to the designed cement mixtures. The properties, like, flexural and compressive strength of cement mortars, chemical shrinkage, autogenous shrinkage and drying shrinkage of cement pastes were studied. The results showed that the chemical shrinkage, autogenous shrinkage and drying shrinkage at 28 days were between 0.064 – 0.074 ml/g, 4.5 – 7.9 mm/m and 3.3 – 4.9 mm/m, respectively. The relationship between the nature of alkaline components, the type of mineral additives and the shrinkage behavior of cements were discussed.


Author(s):  
Srijib Chakrabarti ◽  
Jayantha Kodikara

Research was undertaken to increase knowledge of the properties of local stabilized pavement materials to facilitate their wider use in road construction and rehabilitation. Laboratory tests involved testing for the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), shrinkage, and capillary behavior of crushed basaltic rocks stabilized with two conventional cementitious binders—general purpose cement and lime—and two cementitious binders comprising industrial waste products—blended cement and alkali-activated slag. The alkali-activated slag and blended cement significantly increased UCS of untreated material and performed as well as or better than such traditional binders as general purpose cement. Overall, lime performed poorly as a stabilizer of crushed basaltic rocks, primarily because the fine content containing clay minerals was not significant in the crushed basaltic rock composition. UCS of stabilized materials increased significantly as binder content increased; UCS could be described as a function of binder quantity. Ultimate shrinkage increased with binder content for general purpose cement and alkali-activated slag, but for blended cement, behavior was different. The rate of drying shrinkage was relatively high at the early stage of shrinkage. Generally, alkali-activated slag produced less shrinkage compared with general purpose and blended cements. Capillary rise and water absorption were also measured. Test results indicated that the rate of capillary rise and amount of water absorbed by the material matrix decreased with the increase of binder content. The research indicated that the use of binders with industrial by-products could be a viable option in stabilization of crushed basaltic rock materials.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenzhen Jiao ◽  
Ying Wang ◽  
Wenzhong Zheng ◽  
Wenxuan Huang ◽  
Xianyu Zhou

In this paper, a parametric experimental study developing the alkali-activated slag concrete hollow block (AASCHB) is discussed. Fourteen trial mixes of alkali-activated slag concrete containing pottery sand and ceramsite with different water-to-slag ratios, sand ratios, silicate moduli, and Na2O contents were evaluated to determine the optimal mix for high compressive strength and low drying shrinkage. All four factors evaluated were found to be significant for the desired properties. A series of 390 × 190 × 190 mm3 AASCHBs were prepared using the optimal mix with a water-to-slag ratio of 0.35, sand ratio of 0.64, silicate modulus of 1.2, and Na2O content of 8%. The compressive strength, flexural strength, water absorption, and moisture content tests of these blocks indicate that the resulting AASCHB can be classified under the strength grade of MU15 as a load-bearing hollow concrete block. The proposed AASCHBs appear to provide a viable solution to the environmental problems of industrial waste and cement production emissions, leading to more sustainable buildings without compromising structural performance.


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