scholarly journals The Durability of One-Part Alkali-Activated Slag-Based Mortars in Different Environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Coppola ◽  
Denny Coffetti ◽  
Elena Crotti ◽  
Gabriele Gazzaniga ◽  
Tommaso Pastore

The paper assesses the durability of one-part alkali-activated slag-based mortars (AAS) in different aggressive environments, such as calcium chloride- and magnesium sulphate-rich solutions, in comparison with traditional cementitious mortars at equal water to binder ratio. Moreover, the freezing and thawing resistance was evaluated on mortars manufactured with and without air entraining admixture (AEA). Experimental results indicate that the alkali content is a key parameter for durability of AAS: the higher the alkali content, the higher the resistance in severe conditions. In particular, high-alkali content AAS mortars are characterized by freeze–thaw resistances similar to that of blast furnace cement-based mixtures, but lower than that of Portland cement-mortars while AAS with low activators dosages evidence a very limited resistance in cold environment. The effectiveness of AEA in enhancement of freeze–thaw resistance is confirmed also for AAS mortars. Moreover, AAS mixtures are quasi-immune to expansive calcium oxychloride formation in presence of CaCl2-based deicing salts, but they are very vulnerable to magnesium sulphate attack due to decalcification of C-S-H gel and gypsum formation.

2013 ◽  
Vol 668 ◽  
pp. 65-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heng Shu

The main structure materials of tunnel lining are concrete and steel, and the concrete frost damage is a typical degradation phenomenon of the tunnel linings in cold regions. Alkali-activated slag concrete (ASC) has a better freeze-thaw resistance, which can be used for tunnel lining in severe frigid regions. Freeze-thaw resistance, performance mechanism of ASC and microstructure were investigated by freeze-thaw cycle, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. The experimental results show that, ASC has excellent freeze-thaw resistance, and hydration products of ASC are mostly C-S-H, alkaline aluminosilicate. ASC has a good compact degree and uniformity of structure, and its high compressive strength also makes high freeze-thaw resistance. ASC may be selected as tunnel lining production materials in severe frigid regions because of the less reduction in the dynamic elastic modulus and mass loss of concrete.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Bin Chen ◽  
Jun Wang

Studying the application of alkali-activated slag concrete for roads in cold areas is of great significance for promoting and developing green building materials. In this study, the effect of freeze-thaw damage on the flexural fatigue properties of alkali-activated slag concrete was studied and the fatigue life of alkali-activated slag concrete with various degrees of damage after freeze-thaw cycles was studied through a three-point flexural test. The results show that the flexural fatigue life decreases with freeze-thaw cycles from 0 to 150 times. Through a distribution fitting test and K-S test results, the flexural fatigue life followed both the two-parameter and three-parameter Weibull distributions. Between them, the three-parameter Weibull distribution fitting had a higher accuracy and better test results. The results of the reliability analysis show that the curves of alkali-activated slag concrete samples with various degrees of freeze-thaw damage for various failure probabilities have good correlation under different stresses, and the correlation correlations were greater than 0.81. The flexural fatigue life of alkali-activated slag concrete samples with various degrees of freeze-thaw damage was more sensitive to freeze-thaw damage under high stresses. It is suggested that the fatigue design of alkali-activated slag concrete should consider the adverse effects of cold areas, and the reliability should be improved accordingly.


Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi-Che Hung ◽  
Yuan-Chieh Wu ◽  
Wei-Ting Lin ◽  
Jiang-Jhy Chang ◽  
Wei-Chung Yeih

In this study, the influence of three mixture variables named Sand/Aggregate ratio, Liquid/Binder ratio, and Paste/Aggregate ratio on the cementitious properties were studied. The durability of cementitious including absorption, absorption rate, resistivity, rapid chloride permeability index, and carbonation rate were examined. Results showed that the alkali-activated slag cementitious has superior durability. The trends of influences on the composites properties for these three mixture variables are similar to those for the ordinary Portland cement concrete. It means that the experiences for making the ordinary Portland cement concrete should be able to be used for the alkali-activated slag cementitious. This paper also provides a lot of data for the alkali-activated slag cementitious for future development of the mix design.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Bin Chen ◽  
Jun Wang

A freeze-thaw resistance is an important indicator of the durability of alkali-activated slag concrete, which causes structural failure when the performance is low, especially in severely cold areas. In this study, solid sodium aluminate and sodium silicate were used as composite alkaline activators, while slag was used as the raw material to prepare alkali-activated slag concrete, whose freeze-thaw resistance, as well as that of ordinary cement concrete, was experimentally studied by varying the freeze-thaw cycles. The effects of the mass, compressive strength, and dynamic elastic modulus of the sample were investigated by considering the influence of different water-to-slag ratios and slag contents, while the damage variables and model were also analyzed. The results showed that alkali-activated slag concrete had an excellent freeze-thaw resistance, which was significantly affected by the water-to-slag ratio and compressive strength; specifically, the higher the water-to-slag ratio, the lower the freeze-thaw resistance, and the higher the compressive strength, the better the freeze-thaw resistance. The freeze-thaw durability, microstructure, and damage mechanism were studied via microscopic analysis. When analyzed via the microstructure test, crack pores and microcracks with narrow spaces and large surface areas were generated under freeze-thaw damage conditions, but the dense hydration structure and high-bonding-strength hydration products led to a better freeze-thaw resistance. The damage model was established using compressive strength and relative dynamic elastic modulus as damage variables, and the attenuation exponential and accumulative damage power function model had a high accuracy, which could better reflect the freeze-thaw damage law and damage degree and predict the lifetime of alkali-activated slag concrete.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document