scholarly journals Fresh State, Rheological and Microstructural Characteristics of Alkali-Activated Mortars Developed Using Novel Dry Mixing Technique under Ambient Conditions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 8920
Author(s):  
Dhruv Sood ◽  
Khandaker M. A. Hossain

Ambient cured alkali-activated mortars (AAMs) are developed through the activation of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) by powder form reagents with silica sand using a novel dry-mixing method. The fresh state, rheological, compressive strength and microstructural characteristics of eight AAM mixes are comprehensively investigated. The effects of binary/ternary combinations/proportions of SCMs, different combinations/dosages of powder form reagents and the fundamental chemical ratios (SiO2/Al2O3, Na2O/SiO2, CaO/SiO2 and Na2O/Al2O3) present in the precursors and the reagents are investigated. The AAM mixes obtained compressive strengths ranging from 34 to 42.6 MPa with initial and final setting times between 122 and 458 min and 215 and 483 min, respectively. The yield stress and viscosity of the mixes decreased with the increase in the slump flow spread. All the mixes demonstrated pseudoplastic behavior. The microstructural analysis revealed the formation of more longer polymeric chains comprising Si-Al linkages in N-C-A-S-H/N-A-S-H gels for reagent one (calcium hydroxide:sodium metasilicate = 1:2.5) mixes, which resulted in a lower slump flow, higher yield stress, higher plastic viscosity and quicker setting times compared to their reagent two (calcium hydroxide:sodium sulfate = 2.5:1) counterparts.

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 315
Author(s):  
Dhruv Sood ◽  
Khandaker M. A. Hossain

Alkali-activated binders (AABs) are developed using a dry mixing method under ambient curing incorporating powder-form reagents/activators and industrial waste-based supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) as precursors. The effects of binary and ternary combinations/proportions of SCMs, two types of powder-form reagents, fundamental chemical ratios (SiO2/Al2O3, Na2O/SiO2, CaO/SiO2, and Na2O/Al2O3), and incorporation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers on fresh state and hardened characteristics of 16 AABs were investigated to assess their performance for finding suitable mix compositions. The mix composed of ternary SCM combination (25% fly-ash class C, 35% fly-ash class F, and 40% ground granulated blast furnace slag) with multi-component reagent combination (calcium hydroxide and sodium metasilicate = 1:2.5) was found to be the most optimum binder considering all properties with a 56 day compressive strength of 54 MPa. The addition of 2% v/v PVA fibers to binder compositions did not significantly impact the compressive strengths. However, it facilitated mitigating shrinkage/expansion strains through micro-confinement in both binary and ternary binders. This research bolsters the feasibility of producing ambient cured powder-based cement-free binders and fiber-reinforced, strain-hardening composites incorporating binary/ternary combinations of SCMs with desired fresh and hardened properties.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2911
Author(s):  
Margarida Gonçalves ◽  
Inês Silveirinha Vilarinho ◽  
Marinélia Capela ◽  
Ana Caetano ◽  
Rui Miguel Novais ◽  
...  

Ordinary Portland Cement is the most widely used binder in the construction sector; however, a very high carbon footprint is associated with its production process. Consequently, more sustainable alternative construction materials are being investigated, namely, one-part alkali activated materials (AAMs). In this work, waste-based one-part AAMs binders were developed using only a blast furnace slag, as the solid precursor, and sodium metasilicate, as the solid activator. For the first time, mortars in which the commercial sand was replaced by two exhausted sands from biomass boilers (CA and CT) were developed. Firstly, the characterization of the slag and sands (aggregates) was performed. After, the AAMs fresh and hardened state properties were evaluated, being the characterization complemented by FTIR and microstructural analysis. The binder and the mortars prepared with commercial sand presented high compressive strength values after 28 days of curing-56 MPa and 79 MPa, respectively. The mortars developed with exhausted sands exhibit outstanding compressive strength values, 86 and 70 MPa for CT and CA, respectively, and the other material’s properties were not affected. Consequently, this work proved that high compressive strength waste-based one-part AAMs mortars can be produced and that it is feasible to use another waste as aggregate in the mortar’s formulations: the exhausted sands from biomass boilers.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 3467
Author(s):  
Ankit Kothari ◽  
Karin Habermehl-Cwirzen ◽  
Hans Hedlund ◽  
Andrzej Cwirzen

Most of the currently used concretes are based on ordinary Portland cement (OPC) which results in a high carbon dioxide footprint and thus has a negative environmental impact. Replacing OPCs, partially or fully by ecological binders, i.e., supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) or alternative binders, aims to decrease the carbon dioxide footprint. Both solutions introduced a number of technological problems, including their performance, when exposed to low, subfreezing temperatures during casting operations and the hardening stage. This review indicates that the present knowledge enables the production of OPC-based concretes at temperatures as low as −10 °C, without the need of any additional measures such as, e.g., heating. Conversely, composite cements containing SCMs or alkali-activated binders (AACs) showed mixed performances, ranging from inferior to superior in comparison with OPC. Most concretes based on composite cements require pre/post heat curing or only a short exposure to sub-zero temperatures. At the same time, certain alkali-activated systems performed very well even at −20 °C without the need for additional curing. Chemical admixtures developed for OPC do not always perform well in other binder systems. This review showed that there is only a limited knowledge on how chemical admixtures work in ecological concretes at low temperatures and how to accelerate the hydration rate of composite cements containing high amounts of SCMs or AACs, when these are cured at subfreezing temperatures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 11141
Author(s):  
Tae-Woong Kong ◽  
Hyun-Min Yang ◽  
Han-Seung Lee ◽  
Chang-Bok Yoon

High fluidity concrete exhibits an excellent self-compacting property. However, the application of typical high-fluidity concrete is limited in the normal strength range (18~35 MPa) due to the large amount of binder. Therefore, it is important to solve these problems by adding a viscosity modifying agent (VMA) with a superplasticizer (PCE), which helps to improve the fluidity of the concrete. In addition, the rheology and stability of the concrete with VMA can be improved by preventing bleeding and segregation issues. Current studies focused on the physical phenomena of concrete such as the fluidity, rheological properties, and compressive strength of normal-strength, high-fluidity concrete (NSHFC) with different types of a polycarboxylate-based superplasticizer (NPCE). The obtained results suggested that the combinations of all-in-one polycarboxylate-based superplasticizers (NPCE) did not cause any cohesion or sedimentation even stored for a long time. The combination of three types of VMA showed the best fluidity (initial slump flow of 595~630 mm) without any segregation and bleeding, and the compressive strength at 28 days was also found to be the highest: 34–37 MPa. From these results, the combination of PCE (2.0%) + HPMC (0.3%) + WG (0.1%) + ST (0.1%) showed an 18% higher plastic viscosity and -4.4% lower yield stress than Plain.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
João Victor Staub de Melo ◽  
Glicério Trichês

This paper reports the results obtained in a study on the effect of the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles on the mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of photocatalytic concretes. In the hardened state, tests to determine the compressive strength and modulus of elasticity were carried out. Also, microstructural aspects of the samples were investigated. In the fresh state, the influence of the addition of TiO2 on the concrete compaction and conduction calorimetry curves was evaluated. The results obtained indicated a better mechanical and microstructural behavior of concrete with addition of TiO2.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-You Wu ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Changjiang Liu ◽  
Zhoulian Zheng ◽  
Paul Lambert

Nanomaterials have been increasingly employed for improving the mechanical properties and durability of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) with high volume supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). Recently, graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets have appeared as one of the most promising nanomaterials for enhancing the properties of cementitious composites. To date, a majority of studies have concentrated on cement pastes and mortars with fewer investigations on normal concrete, ultra-high strength concrete, and ultra-high-performance cement-based composites with a high volume of cement content. The studies of UHPC with high volume SCMs have not yet been widely investigated. This paper presents an experimental investigation into the mini slump flow and physical properties of such a UHPC containing GO nanosheets at additions from 0.00 to 0.05% by weight of cement and a water–cement ratio of 0.16. The study demonstrates that the mini slump flow gradually decreases with increasing GO nanosheet content. The results also confirm that the optimal content of GO nanosheets under standard curing and under steam curing is 0.02% and 0.04%, respectively, and the corresponding compressive and flexural strengths are significantly improved, establishing a fundamental step toward developing a cost-effective and environmentally friendly UHPC for more sustainable infrastructure.


Author(s):  
Stefania Manzi ◽  
Andrea Saccani ◽  
Luca Baldazzi ◽  
Isabella Lancellotti

AbstractAlkali-activated materials are a promising type of binder candidate as a substitute to Portland cement. Fly ashes can be used as binder precursors giving higher environmental benefits. In the present research, fly ashes (Type F) containing different amounts of unburned carbonaceous matter have been used to formulate mortars. Serious problems concerning the workability in the fresh state have been found when high carbon content are reached. An attempt to avoid the preliminary treatments used to eliminate the unburned matter is carried out by exploiting different mix-design receipts obtained by changing the water/binder ratio, the ratio of the alkaline activators and using different types of superplasticizer additives. Data so far collected underline that a high amount of unburned carbonaceous matter can not only compromise the mechanical properties of the materials, but also the rheological ones and underline the necessity to develop ad hoc additives for this type of binders.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1100 ◽  
pp. 44-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Krivenko ◽  
Oleg Petropavlovsky ◽  
Vit Petranek ◽  
Vasiliy Pushkar ◽  
Grigorii Vozniuk

The paper discusses approaches to compositional build-up of high strength alkali activated cements made using water glass as alkaline activator represented by commercial products in a form of powder and liquid. The purpose was to study the influence of fineness of ground granulated blast-furnace slags, admixtures and additives, compatible with alkali activated cements, water glass and mode of manufacturing technology in order to reach high compressive strength (≥ 80 MPa at standard age (28 days)) and early strength (≥ 20 MPa after 3 h of hardening in normal conditions).


2014 ◽  
Vol 600 ◽  
pp. 282-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Figueirêdo Nóbrega de Azerêdo ◽  
Arnaldo Manoel Pereira Carneiro ◽  
Givanildo Alves de Azeredo ◽  
Mauro Sardela

Many studies have been developed about the use of wastes as construction materials. The higher volume of waste generated by many types of industries has caused many environmental problems. Most of these wastes have not been placed in adequate sites, or even been reused. In Brazil the industries that produces kaolin generates a lot of wastes. Studies have been carried out on the use of kaolin wastes as replacement material for Portland cement concretes and mortars; and only few ones have studied it in hydraulic mortars for restoration of historical buildings. In this work kaolin wastes were studied as pozzolanic and inert material in lime mortars. Two lime/metakaolin ratios and different proportions of kaolin wastes as replacement of river sand were studied. Hardened properties of these mortars like compressive and tensile strength and water absorbed by capillarity were evaluated up to 180 days of curing. Microstructural characteristics also were assessed using thermal analysis (TG/DTG) and x-rays diffraction (XRD). Some mortars presented the highest strengths at 90 days of curing, and at 180 days their resistances dropped. The major phases found by microstructural analysis were monocarboaluminate (C4ACH11) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3).


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-73
Author(s):  
Assia Abdelouahed ◽  
Houria Hebhoub ◽  
Leila Kherraf ◽  
Mouloud Belachia

Abstract This paper studies the use of cockle shell as supplementary cementitious materials SCMs as substitute for cement. The cockle shells generally have a high CaO content which can alter the behavior and the properties of mortars and concrete. Cockle shell is used with weight ratios of 5, 10, 15 and 20% to formulate a mortar with cockle shell and a control mortar CM with 0% of cockle shell. The properties in the fresh state, the mechanical strength and the weight loss test as well as the depth of penetration of each mixture were carried out through the conducted experiments. Consistency and density of fresh mortars were determined, the results obtained showed that cockle shell have a significant influence on the properties of mortars in the fresh state. The different results of hardened mortars show that the introduction of cockle shell tends to accelerate the development kinetics of strength at the young age but its ratio cannot be above of 5%. Mortar with 10% presented the lower depth penetration, the loss weight increased proportionally with the increasing of cockle shell amount.


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