scholarly journals A Review of Durability and Strength Characteristics of Alkali-Activated Slag Concrete

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osama Ahmed Mohamed

Alkali-activated slag (AAS) is a promising alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) as sole binder for reinforced concrete structures. OPC is reportedly responsible for over 5% of the global CO2 emission. In addition, slag is an industrial by-product that must be land-filled if not re-used. Therefore, it has been studied by many investigators as environmentally friendly replacement of OPC. In addition to recycling, AAS offers favorable properties to concrete such as rapid development of compressive strength and high resistance to sulfate attack. Some of the potential shortcomings of AAS include high shrinkage, short setting time, and high rate of carbonation. Using ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) as an alternative to OPC requires its activation with high alkalinity compounds such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium sulfate (Na2SO3), sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), or combination of these compounds such as NaOH and Na2SO3. The mechanism of alkali-activation is still not fully understood and further research is required. This paper overviews the properties, advantages, and potential shortcomings of AAS concrete.

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 2072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Choi ◽  
Kwang-Myong Lee

The performance of alkali-activated slag (AAS) paste using activators of strong alkali components is affected by the type, composition, and dosage of the alkaline activators. Promoting the reaction of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) by alkaline activators can produce high-strength AAS concrete, but the workability might be drastically reduced. This study is aimed to experimentally investigate the heat release, workability, and setting time of AAS pastes and the compressive strength of AAS mortars considering the Na2O content and the ratio of Na2O to SiO2 (Ms) of binary alkaline activators blended with sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate. The test results indicated that the AAS mortars exhibited a high strength of 25 MPa at 24 h, even at ambient temperature, even though the pastes with an Na2O content of ≥6% and an Ms of ≥1.0 exhibited an abrupt decrease in flowability and rapid setting.


Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 2874 ◽  
Author(s):  
In Kyu Jeon ◽  
Jae Suk Ryou ◽  
Sadam Hussain Jakhrani ◽  
Hong Gi Kim

This study investigates the potential of light-burnt dolomite (LBD) as a supplementary cementitious material with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and Ordinary Portland cement (OPC). In this work, LBD was substituted for up to 20% of GGBFS in sodium sulfate-activated slag systems. The effects of LBD incorporation on the flow, setting time, compressive and flexural strength development, and drying shrinkage were explored with, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analyses. LBD incorporation resulted in greater strength development of an alkali-activated slag system. The optimum LBD content for strength development was 10%, regardless of ordinary Portland cement content. In addition, LBD decreased the drying shrinkage, accelerated the hydration process, and induced hydrotalcite formation, which can be attributed to the reactive MgO inside LBD.


2011 ◽  
Vol 287-290 ◽  
pp. 1237-1240
Author(s):  
Lan Fang Zhang ◽  
Rui Yan Wang

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of lithium-slag and fly ash on the workability , setting time and compressive strength of alkali-activated slag concrete. The results indicate that lithium-slag and fly-ash can ameliorate the workability, setting time and improve the compressive strength of alkali-activated slag concrete,and when 40% or 60% slag was replaced by lithium-slag or fly-ash, above 10 percent increase in 28-day compressive strength of concrete were obtained.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Bin Chen ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
Jinyou Zhao

Extensive research into alkali-activated slag as a green gel material to substitute for cement has been done because of the advantages of low-carbon dioxide emissions and recycling of industrial solid waste. Alkali-activated slag usually has good mechanical properties, but the too fast setting time restricted its application and promotion. Changing the composition of alkaline activator could optimize setting time, usually making it by adding sodium carbonate or sodium sulfate but this would cause insufficient hydration reaction power and hinder compressive strength growth. In this paper, the effect of sodium aluminate dosage as an alkaline activator on the setting time, fluidity, compressive strength, hydration products, and microstructures was studied through experiments. It is fair to say that an appropriate amount of sodium aluminate could obtain a suitable setting time and better compressive strength. Sodium aluminate provided enough hydroxyl ions for the paste to promote the hydration reaction process that ensured obtaining high compressive strength and soluble aluminium formed precipitate wrapped on the surface of slag to inhibit the hydration reaction process in the early phase that prolonged setting time. The hydration mechanism research found that sodium aluminate played a key role in the formation of higher cross-linked gel hydration products in the late phase of the process. Preparing an alkali-activated slag with excellent mechanical properties and suitable setting time will significantly contribute to its application and promotion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fu Bo ◽  
Cheng Zhenyun

In order to investigate the effect of Cr6+ on the properties of alkali-activated slag cement (AAS), the effects of added dosage of Na2Cr2O4 on the setting time and compressive strength of AAS were measured. The leaching concentration of Cr6+ from AAS cement stone was measured using dual-beam UV-visible spectrophotometry. The effect of Na2Cr2O4 on the hydration kinetics of AAS cement was monitored by microcalorimetry and the corresponding kinetic parameters were analyzed. The pore solution from AAS was collected and analyzed using the high pressure press method. The effects of Na2Cr2O4 on the hydration products of AAS cement were observed and compared using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results showed that the AAS hydration process was markedly affected by Na2Cr2O4 dosage. The setting time of AAS pastes was increased and the compressive strength of cement stones was reduced with increasing dosage of Na2Cr2O4. With the development of AAS hydration, the leaching concentration of Na2Cr2O4 gradually decreased. Na2Cr2O4 did not affect the dissolution of slag particles, but impeded the formation of C-S-H gel. The Cr6+ was immobilized chemically in the form of needle-like CaCrO4 particles formed by the chemical reaction between Na2Cr2O4 and Ca2+ leaching from the slag.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0242462
Author(s):  
Tero Luukkonen ◽  
Juho Yliniemi ◽  
Paivo Kinnunen ◽  
Mirja Illikainen

Concrete production is globally a major water consumer, and in general, drinking-quality water is mixed in the binder. In the present study, simulated sea water and reverse osmosis reject water were used as batching water for one-part (dry-mix) alkali-activated blast furnace slag mortar. Alkali-activated materials are low-CO2 alternative binders gaining world-wide acceptance in construction. However, their production requires approximately similar amount of water as regular Portland cement concrete. The results of the present study revealed that the use of saline water did not hinder strength development, increased setting time, and did not affect workability. The salts incorporated in the binder decreased the total porosity of mortar, but they did not form separate phases detectable with X-ray diffraction or scanning electron microscopy. Leaching tests for monolithic materials revealed only minimal leaching. Furthermore, results for crushed mortars (by a standard two-stage leaching test) were within the limits of non-hazardous waste. Thus, the results indicated that high-salinity waters can be used safely in one-part alkali-activated slag to prepare high-strength mortars. Moreover, alkali-activation technology could be used as a novel stabilization/solidification method for reverse osmosis reject waters, which frequently pose disposal problems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangchen Xu ◽  
Haiming Chen ◽  
Pengju Wang

Alkali-activated slag (AAS) is becoming an increasingly popular building material due to its excellent engineering properties and low CO2 emissions, but its large shrinkage is an important reason to restrict its application and popularization. This work is aimed to study the possibility of inhibiting the shrinkage of AAS mortar by incorporating polypropylene fiber (PPF). For this, an experimental study was carried out to evaluate the effects of PPF content on setting time, fluidity, physical properties, mechanical properties, impact resistance, and microstructure of AAS mortar. The volume content of PPF is 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.15%, and 0.2%. The working, physical (porosity, water absorption, and bulk density), mechanical, shrinkage, and impact resistance properties of the AAS mortars were evaluated. The results show that incorporating PPF effectively reduces the shrinkage deformation of AAS mortar, significantly improves its impact resistance, enhances its toughness, and slightly improves its compressive strength in the later stage. At the same time, PPF delays the initial setting time of AAS mortar and reduces the fluidity, density, porosity, and water absorption of AAS mortar. SEM results show that the bridging effect of PPF between AAS mortars can inhibit the generation and propagation of cracks, improve the internal microstructure, and enhance the performance of AAS mortar.


Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taewan Kim ◽  
Jae Hong Kim ◽  
Yubin Jun

Previous studies of alkali-activated slag cement (AASC) using nano-silica have mentioned mostly powdered nano-silica and binder weight replacement methods, which have a rapid decrease in fluidity, a short setting time and a low nano-silica replacement rate (< 5%). In this study, colloidal nano-silica (CNS) was used and the mixing-water weight substitution method was applied. The substitution method was newly applied to improve the dispersibility of nano-silica and to increase the substitution rate. In the experiment, the CNS was replaced by 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% of the mixing-water weight. As a result, as the substitution rate of CNS increased, the fluidity decreased, and the setting time decreased. High compressive strength values and increased rates were also observed, and the diameter and volume of pores decreased rapidly. In particular, the increase of CNS replacement rate had the greatest effect on decrease of medium capillary pores (50–10 nm) and increase of gel pores (< 10 nm). The new displacement method was able to replace up to 50% of the mixing water. As shown in the experimental results, despite the high substitution rate of 50%, the minimum fluidity of the mixture was secured, and a high-strength and compact matrix could be formed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 754-755 ◽  
pp. 300-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimi Noorliyana Hashim ◽  
Kamarudin Hussin ◽  
Noorzahan Begum ◽  
Mohd Mustafa Al Bakri Abdullah ◽  
Kamrosni Abdul Razak ◽  
...  

Energy saving in building technology is among the most critical problems in the world. Thus it is a need to develop sustainable alternatives to conventional concrete utilizing more environmental friendly materials. One of the possibilities to work out is the massive usage of industrial wastes like ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) to turn them to useful environmental friendly and technologically advantageous cementitious materials. In this study, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) is used to produce of alkali activated slag (AAS) mortar with the effect of alkaline activator concentration. Alkali activated slag (AAS) mortar is accelerated using alkaline solution of sodium silicate mixed with sodium hydroxide. The fixed ratio of sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide is 1.7 and the concentration of sodium hydroxide is varied from 6M to 12M. Concentration of 10M NaOH promotes the best properties of mortar by achieving the greatest compressive strength. Substitution of mineral admixture also influences strength performance of AAS mortars. The mortar with 20% calcium carbonate demonstrates the maximum compressive strength. The used of alkaline activation system is the best method to prepare industrial byproduct concrete. Moreover, alkali activated product itself gains superior properties which lead to the system become the most interesting method to produce sustainable concrete.


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