Studies on blended cements containing a high volume of natural pozzolans

This paper presents the results of an investigation on the characteristics of laboratory-produced blended portland cements containing 55% by weight volcanic tuffs from Turkey. Volcanic tuffs from two different resources were used. Using different grinding times, particle size distribution, setting time, compressive strength, and alkali-silica activity of the blended cements were investigated and compared with reference portland cements ground for the same time period. For the compressive strength test, a superplasticizer was used to obtain mortar mixtures of adequate workability at a constant water-to-cement (w/c) ratio of 0.45. Compared to portland cement, the blended cements containing 55% pozzolan showed somewhat lower strengths up to 91 days when the grinding time was 90 min. However, at 91 days, blended cements and portland cements ground for 120 min showed similar strength. Moreover, blended cements containing 55% natural pozzolans showed excellent ability to reduce the alkali-silica expansion.     

Properties of concrete produced from multicomponent blended cements

This paper presents a study on the behavior of concrete produced from multicomponent blended cements. These blends were prepared by blending 20–60% ASTM Type I cement with the combination of Class C fly ash and clean coal ash. Two percent to four percent sodium sulfate anhydrite was added to the blends as a chemical activator. Tests were conducted on the prepared concrete for strength development, freezing and thawing resistance, resistance to chloride ion penetration, sulfate resistance, and alkali silica reaction. Test results show that concrete produced from blended cements had equivalent or higher strength than the control mixture at all test ages. Blended cements were effective in controlling expansions due to sulfate attack or alkali silica reaction. They also reduced the deterioration of concrete due to freezing and thawing action and greatly increased the resistance to chloride ion penetration into the concrete.     

Effect of large amounts of natural pozzolan addition on properties of blended cements

In this study, the effects of 35, 45, and 55 wt.% natural pozzolan addition on the properties of blended cement pastes and mortars were investigated. Blended cements with 450 m²/kg Blaine fineness were produced from a Turkish volcanic tuff in a laboratory mill by intergrinding portland cement clinker, natural pozzolan, and gypsum. The cements were tested for particle size distribution, setting time, heat of hydration, compressive strength, alkali-silica activity, and sulfate resistance. Cement pastes were tested by TGA for Ca(OH)₂ content and by XRD for the crystalline hydration products. The compressive strength of the mortars made with blended cements containing large amounts of natural pozzolan was lower than that of the portland cement at all tested ages up to 91 days. Blended cements containing large amounts of pozzolan exhibited much less expansion with respect to portland cement in accelerated alkali-silica test and in a 36-week sulfate immersion test.     

Physical performances of blended cements containing calcium aluminosilicate glass powder and limestone

This work explores the suitability of calcium aluminosilicate (CAS) glass particles as an alternative to conventional supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash and blast furnace slag. The reason for adding CAS glass particles to the cement blend is to reduce the CO₂ emission of cement production at the same level of performance. For this purpose, blended cement mortars containing 30 wt.% clinker replacement are characterized with respect to workability and mechanical performance. The results indicated that real emission reductions are possible, particularly for combinations of finely ground limestone and CAS glasses which resulted in significantly higher strengths than would be predicted from the individual contributions of each constituent.     

Study on high-strength composite portland cement with a larger amount of industrial wastes

It is one of important measures for the sustainable development of cement industry to utilize industrial wastes. High-strength composite portland cement with a large amount of granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS), fly ash and limestone was prepared by separate grinding method, optimizing gypsum and using activators. The total amounts of blending materials are between 45% and 65% and the strength grades of cements reach 525 or even 625 according to Chinese national standard for composite portland cement. Besides setting time and strength, the hydration heat, drying shrinkage and sulfate resistance were also determined.     

Supplementary cementing materials in concrete: Part I: efficiency and design

Many solid industrial by-products such as siliceous and aluminous materials (fly ash, silica fume, slags, etc.) as well as some natural pozzolanic materials (volcanic tuffs, diatomaceous earth, etc.) may be characterized as supplementary cementing materials (SCM) as they exhibit cementitious and/or pozzolanic properties. Due to plenty of these materials and their large variations on physical and chemical composition, the development of a general design for their use in concrete is required. In this work, the concept of an efficiency factor is applied as a measure of the relative performance of SCM compared with Portland cement. Artificial materials of various compositions and some natural pozzolans were studied. Compressive strength and accelerated chloride penetration tests were performed. With regard to these characteristics, efficiency factors for these materials were calculated. A mix design strategy to fulfil any requirements for concrete strength and service lifetime was developed and it enables concrete performance to be accurately predicted.     

Alkali release characteristics of blended cements

This paper presents results of an experimental program conducted to investigate the capacity of hydration products of different cementing materials to retain “bound” alkalis when the alkalinity of the surrounding solution drops. The study covered paste samples containing high-alkali Portland cement and various levels of silica fume and/or fly ash. The results showed that the ability of the hydration products of cement-fly ash systems to bind alkalis is a function of the CaO content of the fly ash, the binding increasing as the calcium content decreases. High-alkali fly ashes (Na₂O_e > 5.0% and CaO in the range of 15% to 20%) showed considerable amounts of alkali contributed to the test solutions. Silica fume does not have a high capacity to retain alkalis in its hydration products; however, ternary blends containing silica fume and fly ash have excellent capacity to bind and retain alkalis.     

The effect of particle size distribution on the properties of blended cements incorporating GGBFS and natural pozzolan (NP)

This paper investigates the effect of particle size distribution on the properties of blended cements incorporating ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) and natural pozzolan (NP). Pure Portland cement (PPC), NP and GGBFS were used to obtain blended cements that contain 10, 20, 30% additives. The cements were produced by intergrinding and separate grinding and then blending. Each group had two different Blaine fineness of 280 m²/g and 480 m²/g. According to the particle size distribution (PSD) curves, 46% of the coarser specimens and 69% of the finer specimens passed through the 20 μm sieve. It was observed that the separately ground specimens were relatively finer than the interground ones and had higher compressive strength and sulfate resistance. The separately ground coarser specimens had the lowest heat of hydration. The separately ground finer specimens, which had the highest compressive strength and sulfate resistance, had the highest percent passing for each sieve size. For these specimens 34, 69, 81 and 99% passed through 5, 20, 30 and 55 μm sieves, respectively. For the interground specimens, which had the same fineness, the respective values for the same sieves were 32, 68, 75 and 94%.     

Prediction of later-age compressive strength of normal concrete based on the accelerated strength of concrete cured with microwave energy

Microwave energy can accelerate the hydration of cement, resulting in rapid strength development of concrete in an early period. In this paper, prediction of later-age compressive strength of normal concrete, made with rapid-hardening and ordinary Portland cement, based on the accelerated strength of concrete cured with microwave energy was investigated. To accelerate curing properly, the optimal microwave curing process for concrete was first determined and then was applied to concrete. The possible early ages for the strength prediction were found to be at 3.5 and 5.5 h for concrete made with rapid-hardening and ordinary Portland cement, respectively. For each cement type, a formula for the strength prediction was derived from the relationship between accelerated early-age strength of concrete cured with microwave energy and later-age strength of normally cured concrete. Predictions of strength at 7 days for concrete made with rapid-hardening Portland cement and 28 days of concrete made with ordinary Portland cement were within 15% agreement with actual test results.     

Influence of fly ash fineness on strength, drying shrinkage and sulfate resistance of blended cement mortar

In this paper, the influence of fineness of fly ash on water demand and some of the properties of hardened mortar are examined. In addition to the original fly ash (OFA), five different fineness values of fly ash were obtained by sieving and by using an air separator. Two sieves, Nos. 200 and 325, were used to obtain two lots of graded fine fly ash. For the classification using air separator, the OFA was separated into fine, medium and coarse portions. The fly ash dosage of 40% by weight of binder was used throughout the experiment. From the tests, it was found that the compressive strength of mortar depended on the fineness of fly ash. The strength of mortar containing fine fly ash was better than that of OFA mortar at all ages with the very fine fly ash giving the highest strength. The use of all fly ashes resulted in significant improvement in drying shrinkage with the coarse fly ash showing the least improvement owing primarily to the high water to binder ratio (W/B) of the mix. Significant improvement of resistance to sulfate expansion was obtained for all fineness values except for the coarse fly ash where greater expansion was observed. The resistance to sulfuric acid attack was also improved with the incorporation of all fly ashes. In this case the coarse fly ash gave the best performance with the lowest rate of the weight loss owing probably to the better bonding of the coarse fly ash particles to the cement matrix and less hydration products. It is suggested that the fine fly ash is more reactive and its use resulted in a denser cement matrix and better mechanical properties of mortar.     

Magnesium sulfate attack on hardened blended cement pastes under different circumstances

This paper describes the sulfate resistance of some hardened blended Portland cement pastes. The blending materials used were silica fume (SF), slag, and calcium carbonate (CaCO₃, CC?). The blended cement pastes were prepared by using W/S ratio of 0.3. The effects of immersion in 10% MgSO₄ solution under different conditions (room temperature, 60 °C, and drying-immersion cycles at 60 °C) on the compressive strength of the various hardened blended cement pastes were studied. Slag and CC? improve the sulfate resistance of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) paste. Mass change of the different mixes immersed in sulfate solution at 60 °C with drying-immersion cycles was determined. The drying-immersion cyclic process at 60 °C accelerates sulfate attacks. This process can be considered an accelerated method to evaluate sulfate resistance of hardened cement pastes, mortars, and concretes.     

Effect of material characteristics on the properties of blended cements containing high volumes of natural pozzolans

The effect of three different natural pozzolans from Turkish deposits on the properties of blended cements produced by intergrinding cement clinker with a high volume of natural pozzolan (55 wt.% of the cementitious material) was investigated. The particle size distribution of blended cements, setting time, heat of hydration, and compressive strength of blended cement mortars were determined. Experimental results showed that the hardness of the pozzolanic material strongly influenced the particle size distribution and the related properties of the blended cements by affecting the fineness of the components of the blended product. The early strength of the mortars was strongly affected by the particle size distribution of blended cements, whereas the strength development performance of the mortars was more related to the pozzolanic activity of the natural pozzolan present in the blended cement.     

Compressive strength and hydration of wastepaper sludge ash-ground granulated blastfurnace slag blended pastes

Compressive strength and hydration characteristics of wastepaper sludge ash-ground granulated blastfurnace slag (WSA-GGBS) blended pastes were investigated at a water to binder (w/b) ratio of 0.5. The strength results are compared to those of normal Portland cement (PC) paste and relative strengths are reported. Early relative strengths (1 day) of WSA-GGBS pastes were very low but a marked gain in relative strength occurred between 1 and 7 days and this increased further after 28 and 90 days. For the 50% WSA-50% GGBS blended paste, the strength achieved at 90 days was nearly 50% of that of the PC control paste. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis were carried out to identify the mineral components in the WSA and the hydration products of WSA and WSA-GGBS pastes. The principal crystalline components in the WSA are gehlenite, calcium oxide, bredigite and α′-C₂S (stabilised with Al and Mg) together with small amounts of anorthite and calcium carbonate and traces of calcium hydroxide and quartz. The α′-C₂S and bredigite, which phase separate from liquid phase that forms a glass on cooling, are difficult to distinguish by XRD. The hydration products identified in WSA paste are CH, C₄AH₁₃, C₃A.0.5CC?.0.5CH.H_11.5 and C-S-H gel plus possible evidence of small amounts of C₂ASH₈ and C₃A.3CS?.H₃₂. Based upon the findings, a hydration mechanism is presented, and a model is proposed to explain the observed strength development.     

Estimation of the degree of hydration of blended cement pastes by a scanning electron microscope point-counting procedure

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) point-counting technique was employed to study the hydration of plain portland and blended cement pastes containing fly ash or slag. For plain portland cement pastes, the results for the degree of cement hydration obtained by the SEM point-counting technique were consistent with the results from the traditional loss-on-ignition (LOI) of nonevaporable water-content measurements; agreement was within ±10%. The standard deviation in the determination of the degree of cement hydration via point counting ranged from ±1.5% to ±1.8% (one operator, one sample). For the blended cement pastes, it is the first time that the degree of hydration of cement in blended systems has been studied directly. The standard deviation for the degree of hydration of cement in the blended cement pastes ranged from ±1.4% to ±2.2%. Additionally, the degrees of reaction of the mineral admixtures (MAs) were also measured. The standard deviation for the degree of fly ash reaction was ±4.6% to ±5.0% and ±3.6% to ±4.3% for slag. All of the analyses suggest that the SEM point-counting technique can be a reliable and effective analysis tool for use in studies of the hydration of blended cement pastes.     

Effect of lime putty addition on structural and durability properties of concrete

The effect of lime putty addition on main structural and durability properties of concrete was studied. Different types of cement were used for concrete preparation: a Portland cement, a pozzolanic cement and a Portland cement with the addition of 20% fly ash. The measured concrete properties were compressive strength, setting times, length change, porosity, carbonation depth and degree of steel bar corrosion. It was found that the lime putty addition has a positive effect on the properties of concrete that contain pozzolans and a slightly negative effect on the properties of pure Portland cement. This behavior was correlated with the availability of active silica of cementitious materials. The active silica of pozzolans reacts with the added calcium hydroxide giving constituents, which improve the concrete stability and durability.     

Effect of lignosulfonate, calcium chloride and their mixture on the hydration of RHA-blended portland cement

Hydration of 10 wt.% rice husk ash (RHA)-blended Portland cement has been studied in the presence of 2 wt.% CaCl₂, 1 wt.% lignosulfonate (LS) and a mixture of the two admixtures by using different methods. Free lime determinations and differential thermal analysis have shown that CaCl₂ accelerates the pozzolanic reaction of Ca(OH)₂ and RHA. In the presence of mixture of two admixtures, lower amount of water is required for consistency of the paste. IR spectral studies have supported that the mixture of the two admixtures act as a strong accelerator for cement hydration. The compressive strength is highest in the presence of a mixture of the two admixtures at 28 days of hydration. The admixtures did not prevent the deterioration of the blended cement in corrosive atmosphere.     

A simplified model for prediction of pozzolanic characteristics of fly ash, based on chemical composition

The correlation between type and quantity of glassy phase and chemical composition of fly ash has been reviewed. A simplified model based on above has been proposed for assessment of pozzolanic reactivity of fly ash in terms of compressive strength of fly ash cement mortar. The model is fitted for 10%, 20%, 35% and 50% of fly ash replacement and for 28, 91 and 365 days of curing period using a least squares technique. The model is found to predict well for more than 20% fly ash replacement. The correlation coefficient (R²) between predicted and experimental values is maximum for 50% replacement. The model fit for 10% replacement of fly ash is poor.     

Mechanical,hydration, and durability modifications provided to mortar made with crushed sand and blended cements

This work aims to evaluate the characteristics of crushed sand (CS), resulting from limestone quarries, when it replaces natural sand (NS) in mortar, and to identify its performances with three types of cement and three W/C ratio. It is concluded that CS has a great effect on mortar properties; it accelerates the hydration of cement grains leading to a shorter setting time, increases the flexural and compressive strengths, generates more hydration heat, and improves the mortar durability. The properties of CS mortar can be predicted as simple relationships of those of NS with an acceptable correlation coefficient.     

The influence of initial water curing on the strength development of ordinary portland and pozzolanic cement concretes

The effect of initial water-curing period on the strength properties of concretes was investigated. Three types of cement, one ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and two natural pozzolanic cements (blended and trass cements), were used in the concrete mixtures. Six different curing regimes were applied to the specimens, the first of which was continuous water storing, and the second continuous air storing. In the remaining four regimes, the specimens were stored under varying initial water-curing periods of 3, 7, 14, and 28 days, respectively. The compressive strength tests were carried out on the cubic specimens at the ages of 7, 14, 28, 90, and 180 days. The variation of compressive strength with time was evaluated by using a semilogarithmic function and the strength-gaining rates were calculated by using this equation for different curing conditions. It was found that poor curing conditions are more adversely effective on the strength of concretes made by pozzolanic cements than that of OPC, and it is necessary to apply water curing to the former concretes at least for the initial 7 days to expose the pozzolanic activity. However, when the pozzolanic cement concretes have sufficient initial curing, they can reach the strength of OPC concretes in reasonable periods of time.     

Optimization of fly ash content in concrete: Part I: Non-air-entrained concrete made without superplasticizer

This paper outlines the preliminary results of a research project aimed at optimizing the fly ash content in concrete. Such fly ash concrete would develop an adequate 1-day compressive strength and would be less expensive than the normal Portland cement concrete with similar 28-day compressive strength. The results show that, in a normal Portland cement concrete having a 28-day compressive strength of 40 MPa, it is possible to replace 50% of cement by a fine fly ash (∼3000 cm²/g) with a CaO content of ∼13%, yielding a concrete of similar 28-day compressive strength. This concrete can be designed to yield an early-age strength of 10 MPa and results in a cost reduction of about 20% in comparison to the control concrete. In a case of a coarser fly ash (∼2000 cm²/g) with a CaO content of ∼4%, substitution levels of cement by this ash could be from 30% to 40%. This concrete yields a 1-day compressive strength of 10 MPa and a 28-day compressive strength similar to that of the control concrete. The total cost of this concrete is about 10% lower than that of the control concrete.