Study of the Effect of Diatomite as a Partial Replacement of Cement in Cement Pastes
The article is focused on study of the effect of filtering diatomite as a partial replacement of cement in an amount of 5-30%. Diatomite is used in civil engineering especially for its high content of an amorphous SiO2, chemical resistance, high porosity, and good thermal insulating properties. Diatomite can be used as a pozzolanic material due to the high content of amorphous SiO2.Cement was replaced by filtering diatomite in amount of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% by weight. Diatomite was characterized by chemical composition, granulometry and pozzolanic activity.The specimens were tested in bulk density, bending strength and compressive strength, hydration process was investigated using thermal analysis, and microstructure was observed by scanning electron microscopy. All results were compared to reference sample.