The mechanism of ground granulated blastfurnace slag preventing alkali aggregate reaction

Three different methods were applied to study the alkali content of gelpores in cement. In the closed system, the concentration of K⁺, Na⁺ and OH⁻ have not reduced with the increase of age. In the open system, the diffusion and transferring of K⁺ and Na⁺ towards free space leads to the decrease of total alkali content. In the micro-analysis system, the contents of K⁺ and Na⁺ in the first hydrated layer of ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GBFS) are very low, while the contents of calcium and magnesium are relatively high. This phenomenon shows that the mechanism of GBFS preventing alkali aggregate reaction (AAR) is: when GBFS is dissolved by alkali medium, SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ are dissolved into the cement matrix, then around GBFS particles form reaction rings rich in Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, and the C-S-H gel of positive charges formed in the area repulses K⁺ and Na⁺, which are forced to transfer to the mortar’s matrix, pore or mortar sample surface. The transferred K⁺ and Na⁺ form alkali gel products with other dissolved ions, then become evenly distributed in the mortar sample and react with Ca(OH)₂ in pore solutions to form (Na,K) _x−2z ·zCa·(SiO₂)_y·(OH)_x gel products; and thus changes the AAR gel products’ structure. The gel products will not expand, and so they can delay expansion destruction.