The Effect of Fineness on the Hydration Activity Index of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag

Abstract

To improve the properties of ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and utilize ground granulated blast furnace slag efficiently, this study investigates the effect of fineness on the hydration activity index (HAI) of ground granulated blast furnace slag. The hydration activity index of GGBS with six specific surface areas (SSAs) was characterized by the ratio of compressive strength of the prismatic mortar test block. The particle size distribution of GGBS with different grinding times was tested by laser particle size analyzer. The paste of different specific surface area GGBSs in different curing ages was investigated at the micro level by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometer, thermogravimetric scanning calorimeter, and differential scanning calorimeter. The effect of particle distribution of GGBS on the hydration activity index of different curing ages was studied by gray correlation analysis. The results indicated that the compressive strength and hydration activity index increases with the increase of a specific surface area of GGBS at different curing ages. The hydration activity index at different curing ages is almost a linear role for specific surface areas. With the increase in the specific surface area of GGBS, the content of Ca(OH)2 in paste decreases gradually. When GGBS was added into a mortar test block, the hydrate calcium silicate gel in paste changed from a high Ca/Si ratio to a low Ca/Si ratio. The 0–10 micron particles of GGBS particle distribution were highly correlated with the hydration activity index at different curing ages.

Temporal flowability evolution of slag-based self-compacting concrete with recycled concrete aggregate

“…All of them yielded a SF3 slump-flow class SCC. Finally, the use of CEM III/A hindered the uniform dragging of the aggregate particles in the slump-flow test, due to the higher grinding fineness of CEM III/A in comparison with CEM I (Dai et al, 2019). A reduction in the coarse RCA content used in the mixtures allowed solving this problem.…”

Hydration Activity and Carbonation Characteristics of Dicalcium Silicate in Steel Slag: A Review

“…The compressive strength of the benchmark mortar at the same age increases with the increase of the specific surface area of GGFBS. The reason is that with the increase of the specific surface area of GGFBS, the proportion of fine particles in GGFBS increases, and the void filling of cement particles is more uniform and effective [76]. Ultrafine steel slag shows high early activity.…”

Colloidal Nanosilica Effect on the Properties and Durability of Coir Reinforced Cement Brick

“…ere has been a lot of studies on using these by-products in concrete. Fly ash (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), silica fume (SF), rice husk ash (RHA), calcined clay, and other supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) have all been employed as cement substitutes [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…e results showed that increasing the specific surface area of GGBS enhances the splitting tensile strength [14], compressive strength, and hydration activity index [15]. e influence of GGBS on the properties and performance of ultrahigh performance concrete (UHPC) was explored by Ghafari et al [16] and Yalcinkaya and Copuroglu [17].…”

“…e strength difference, on the other hand, is only visible on the first day of curing [17]. Despite the advantages of SCMs replacement or inclusion, most of these SCMs act as fillers and stay inert during the hydration process, resulting in decreased early strength in cement mortar and/or concrete [11,12,14,15]. Steam curing, on the other hand, boosted the early age compression strength of metakaolin (MK) included mixtures while limiting late age strength growth, according to Mo et al [18].…”