Activation Energies of High-Volume Fly Ash Ternary Blends: Hydration and Setting

Published

July 17, 2014

Author(s)

Dale P. Bentz

Abstract

Because ready-mixed concrete is placed under a wide variety of environmental conditions, the influence of temperature on the hydration reactions and the accompanying setting (hardening) process is of critical importance. While contractors are generally quite comfortable with the temperature sensitivity of conventional ordinary portland cement (OPC) concretes, more sustainable mixtures containing high volumes of fly ash (HVFA), for example, often present problems with delayed setting times and increased temperature sensitivity. Based on isothermal calorimetry and Vicat needle penetration measurements, this study demonstrates that the high temperature sensitivity of such HVFA mixtures can be effectively moderated by the replacement of a portion of the fly ash with a fine limestone powder. In addition to accelerating and amplifying hydration and reducing setting times at a given temperature, the presence of the fine limestone powder also lowers the apparent activation energy for the setting process for temperatures below 25 °C. The reactivity of limestone in these mixtures is quantified using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Comparison of results for limestone powders of nominal sizes of 1 µm and 17 µm replacing 10 % by volume of the cement in an OPC mixture indicates that the former is highly superior to the latter in accelerating/amplifying hydration and reducing setting times.

Citation

Cement and Concrete Composites

Volume

53

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2014.06.018

Keywords

Apparent activation energy, high-volume fly ash, hydration, isothermal calorimetry, limestone powder, setting.

Citation

Bentz, D. (2014), Activation Energies of High-Volume Fly Ash Ternary Blends: Hydration and Setting, Cement and Concrete Composites, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2014.06.018 (Accessed April 23, 2024)