Effects of Calcium Aluminate Compounds on Hydration of BFS

Abstract

Blast furnace slag(BFS) is well known for its hardening mechanism in ordinary Portland cement with alkali activation due to its latent hydraulic property. The possibility of using calcium compound as activator for BFS has been investigated in this study. The hydration properties of calcium compound activated BFS binders were explored using heat of hydration, powder X-ray diffraction and compressive strength testing. Heat of hydration results indicate that the hydration heat of BFS is lower than OPC paste by about 50%. And ettringite as hydration product was formed continuously as the calcium sulfate was decreased. The maximum compressive strength of hardened BFS mortar at 28 days is confirmed to be 83% as compared with hardened OPC mortar.