The Durability of Alkali-Activated Materials in Comparison with Ordinary Portland Cements and Concretes:A Review

China is the largest producer and user of ordinary Portland cement(OPC),and the rapid growth of infrastructure development demands more sustainable building materials for concrete structures.Alkali-activated materials(AAMs)are a new type of energy-saving and environmentally friendly building material with a wide range of potential applications.This paper compares the durability of AAMs and 0 PC-based materials un der sulfate attack,acid corrosion,carb on ation,and chloride penetratio n.Different AAMs have shown distinct durability properties due to different compositions being formed when different raw materials are used.According to the calcium(Ca)concentration of the raw materials,this paper interprets the deterioration mechanisms of three categories of AAMs:calcium-free,low-calcium,and calcium-rich.Conflicts found in the most recent research are highlighted,as they raise concerns regarding the consistenee and long-term properties of AAMs.Nevertheless,AAMs show better durability performances than OPC-based materials in general.

Distribution of Na+and Mechanical Properties of Hardened Body of Alkali-activated Cementitious Materials

To explore the distribution of and the mechanical properties(compressive strength)of the hardened body of alkali slag-fly ash cementitious materials,this study was conducted by using the XRD,FTIR,SEM/EDS,and other test methods in three conditions:airtight drying(AD),airtight immersion(AI),and airtight soaking(AS).The 1D distribution law of free of hardened body under standard curing conditions was explored.The experimental results show that under standard curing conditions,the 1D distribution of within 0d-3 d shows a∨-shaped distribution,within 3-7 d show a∧-shaped distribution,and within 7-28 d tends to be balanced.The test results of leaching rate show that the free was the most stable under AD conditions and the hardened body bound the most by XRD,FTIR and SEM/EDS.And the compressive strength of the hardened body was the highest.The compressive strength of 28th reached 95.9 MPa.The definite distribution of provides an important reference for the strength development and durability evaluation of the hardened body of alkaliexcited cementitious materials.

Effect of the Retarder on Initial Hydration and Mechanical Properties of the"one-step"Alkaliactivated Composite Cementitious Materials

This paper studied the effects of different retarders on the performance of the"one-step"alkali-activated composite cementitious material(ACCM)which is composed of ground granulated blast slag(GGBS)and fly ash(FA),and analyzed its mechanical properties,hydration mechanism,and retardation mechanism.The effects of retarders on the hydration products,mechanical properties,and hydration kinetics of ACCM were investigated using XRD,SEM,FTIR,EDS,and thermoactive microcalorimetry.The results showed that Na_(2)B_(4)O_(7)·10H_(2)O(B)delayed the exotherm during the alkali activation process and could effectively delay the setting time of ACCM,but the mechanical properties were slightly decreased.The setting time of ACCM increased with the increase in SG content,but the mechanical properties of ACCM decreased with the increase in SG content.C1_(2)H_(22)O_(11)(CHO)could effectively delay the hydration reaction of ACCM and weakly enhanced the compressive strength.H_(3)PO_(4)(HP)at a concentration of 0.05 mol/L had a certain effect on ACCM retardation,but HP at a concentration of 0.07 and 0.09 mol/L had an effect of promoting the setting and hardening time of ACCM.

An Effective Hybrid Model of ELM and Enhanced GWO for Estimating Compressive Strength of Metakaolin-Contained Cemented Materials

This research proposes a highly effective soft computing paradigm for estimating the compressive strength(CS)of metakaolin-contained cemented materials.The proposed approach is a combination of an enhanced grey wolf optimizer(EGWO)and an extreme learning machine(ELM).EGWO is an augmented form of the classic grey wolf optimizer(GWO).Compared to standard GWO,EGWO has a better hunting mechanism and produces an optimal performance.The EGWO was used to optimize the ELM structure and a hybrid model,ELM-EGWO,was built.To train and validate the proposed ELM-EGWO model,a sum of 361 experimental results featuring five influencing factors was collected.Based on sensitivity analysis,three distinct cases of influencing parameters were considered to investigate the effect of influencing factors on predictive precision.Experimental consequences show that the constructed ELM-EGWO achieved the most accurate precision in both training(RMSE=0.0959)and testing(RMSE=0.0912)phases.The outcomes of the ELM-EGWO are significantly superior to those of deep neural networks(DNN),k-nearest neighbors(KNN),long short-term memory(LSTM),and other hybrid ELMs constructed with GWO,particle swarm optimization(PSO),harris hawks optimization(HHO),salp swarm algorithm(SSA),marine predators algorithm(MPA),and colony predation algorithm(CPA).The overall results demonstrate that the newly suggested ELM-EGWO has the potential to estimate the CS of metakaolin-contained cemented materials with a high degree of precision and robustness.

The Cemented Material Dam： A New, Environmentally Friendly Type of Dam

The first author proposed the concept of the cemented material dam （CMD） in 2009. This concept was aimed at building an environmentally friendly dam in a safer and more economical way for both the dam and the area downstream. The concept covers the cemented sand, gravel, and rock dam （CSGRD）, the rockfill concrete （RFC） dam （or the cemented rockfill dam, CRD）, and the cemented soil dam （CSD）. This paper summarizes the concept and principles of the CMD based on studies and practices in projects around the world. It also introduces new developments in the CSGRD, CRD, and CSD.

Magnesia Modification of Alkali-Activated Slag Fly Ash Cement

A new type of magnesia modification alkali-activated cement was prepared, the strength, setting time, shrinkage ratio and cracking behavior, as well as the composition and structure of the hydration product were investigated. The results indicate that the setting time of this cement is similar to that of the ordinary commercial cements; its strength reaches the standard of 42.5 degree cement, its cracking resistance has been remarkably improved because of the micro-aggregate effect of fly ash and shrinkage compensating of magnesia.

Early Carbonation Behavior of High-volume Dolomite Powder-cement Based Materials

Combined with DTG analysis, X-Ray diffraction analysis （XRD） and field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis （FSEM） affiliated with energy dispersive spectrometer analysis （EDS）, the early hydration and carbonation behavior of cement paste compacts incorporated with 30% of dolomite powder at low water to cement ratio （0.15） was investigated. The results showed that early carbonation curing was capable of developing rapid early strength. It is noted that the carbonation duration should be strictly controlled otherwise subsequent hydration might be hindered. Dolomite powder acted as nuclei of crystallization, resulting in acceleration of products formation and refinement of products crystal size. Therefore, as for cement-based material, it was found that early carbonation could reduce cement dosages to a large extent and promote rapid strength gain resulting from rapid formation of products, supplemental enhancement due to water release in the reaction of carbonation, and formation ofnanometer CaCO3 skeleton network at early age.

High Water Content Material Based on Ba-Bearing Sulphoaluminate Cement

A new type of high water content material which is made up of two pastes is prepared, one is refute from lime and gypsum, and another is based on Ba-bearing sulphoaluminate cement. It has excellent properties such as slow single paste solidifing ,fust double pustes solidifing ,fast coagulating and hardening, high early strength, good suspeasion property at high W/C ratio and low cost. Meanwhile, the properties and hydration mechanism of the material were analyzed by using XRD, DTA- TG and SEM. The hydrated products of new type of high water content material are Ba-bearing ettringite, BaSO4 , aluminum gel and C-S-H gel.

Microstructure of a Planting Material Consisting of Nutrition-Expansive Perlitic-Cement Composites

An ecotypic revetment material consisting of nutrition-expansive perlitic-cement composites is introduced. This planting material can combine vegetation recovery with slope protection. The XRD, SEM and image analysis techniques were used to study its composition and microstructure. Its strength was measured by an electro-hydraulic servo-controlled testing machine. The results show the unconfined compressive strength is about 393.6 kPa, and the average elastic modulus is about 47.0 MPa. The quartz, felspar, chlorite and calcite are the main non-clay minerals in the planting material. Its particles are mainly spherical,and the range of the equivalent diameter is 1.83 to 15.96 μm. The results also show the planting material contains a large amount of micro non-capillary and capillary pores, and has a microstructure characteristic of honeycomb and coralline. CSH gel produced by hydration of cement increases the strength and water stability of the particles. The anisotropy and slight orientation of the particles increase the void cross-section area,providing an explanation of the high permeability for the planting material.The better porosity of the planting material is apt tokeep moisture and nutriment, provides oxygen for plant root breathing, and aids to exhaust the carbon dioxide by means of exchanging with atmosphere, hence it can facilitate vegetation.

The Properties of Road Base Course Materials of Granular Soils Stabilized by AGS Granular Soil Stabilizing Cement

The properties of road base course materials of granular soils stabilized by AGS granular soil stabilizing cement were studied.The AGS cement has an expansibility to a certain degree,so the dry shrinkage of AGS cement paste and AGS stabilized granular is much lower than that of Portland slag cement.AGS has a good suitability to granular soils.Granular soils stabilized by AGS have a much higher strength than that of soils stabilized by P S cement.The same strength can be reached with 20% reduction of cement dosage for AGS cement.And their elastic and resilient modulus are similar,but the former has a much higher tensile splitting strength,so the AGS stabilized granular has a much better anti-cracking performance than that of the P S stabilized granular.The reduced value of the strength and the density with the retard time for the granular soils stabilized by AGS is lower than that for P S cement.

Preparation and Performance Research of Cement-based Grouting Materials with High Early Strength and Expansion

Main performance of the cement grouting materials made up by Portland cement（PC） and sulphoaluminate cement（SAC） was investigated in this program, a kind of expanding agent（EA） which was mainly constituted by metakaolin and alunite was utilized for the compensation of the shrinkage, the hydration products and micro structure of the grouting materials were researched by X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）. The results showed that a high expansion rate of the grouting materials could be reached as the expanding agent mixed in 6% of PC mass; the addition of SAC in the S2（PC：SAC：EA=34：6：2.25） brought a further improvement of the expansion rate of the grouting materials, the analysis of XRD and SEM showed that due to the reaction of expanding agent and SAC in the grouting materials, more ettringite crystal was generated, which resulted in a higher early strength, the addition of SAC played an expansion and strength reinforcement role in the grouting materials.

A machine learning model to predict unconfined compressive strength of alkali-activated slag-based cemented paste backfill

The unconfined compressive strength(UCS)of alkali-activated slag(AAS)-based cemented paste backfill(CPB)is influenced by multiple design parameters.However,the experimental methods are limited to understanding the relationships between a single design parameter and the UCS,independently of each other.Although machine learning(ML)methods have proven efficient in understanding relationships between multiple parameters and the UCS of ordinary Portland cement(OPC)-based CPB,there is a lack of ML research on AAS-based CPB.In this study,two ensemble ML methods,comprising gradient boosting regression(GBR)and random forest(RF),were built on a dataset collected from literature alongside two other single ML methods,support vector regression(SVR)and artificial neural network(ANN).The results revealed that the ensemble learning methods outperformed the single learning methods in predicting the UCS of AAS-based CPB.Relative importance analysis based on the bestperforming model(GBR)indicated that curing time and water-to-binder ratio were the most critical input parameters in the model.Finally,the GBR model with the highest accuracy was proposed for the UCS predictions of AAS-based CPB.

Preparation and properties of magnesium oxysulfate cement and its application as lost circulation materials

Loss of drilling fluids in large porous and fractured zones inevitably up-regulates the overall cost of drilling.As a type of acid-soluble cement,magnesium oxysulfate(MOS)cement is arousing huge attention for the less hygroscopic nature and less damaging to steel casings compared with magnesium oxychloride(MOC)cement.The present study developed MOS cement as a fast setting,high strength and acid-soluble lost circulation material to reduce the problem of losses.As suggested in this study,a higher strength of MOS cement at 70℃could be achieved by elevating M_(g)O/MgSO_(4)·7 H_(2)O molar ratio or downregulating H_(2)O/MgSO_(4)·7 H_(2)O molar ratio.Boric acid and borax could act as effective retarders.Plugging slurry based on MOS cement could effectively block the simulated porous loss zones exhibiting a diameter from 1.24 mm to 1.55 mm,as well as the fractured loss zones with a width from 2 mm to 5 mm and bearing a pressure difference up to 8 MPa.Permeability recovery test demonstrated that it facilitated future oil and gas production.The successful field application in the Junggar Basin,Xinjiang,China verified the significant plugging effect of MOS cement for severe loss problems.

Effect of magnesia on properties and microstructure of alkali-activated slag cement

The effect of magnesia bumt at 800-950℃ on the properties, especially the shrinkage, of alkali-activated slag cement （AASC.） was experimentally studied. Experimental results show that, although adding 4%-8% lightly-burnt magnesia may shorten the setting time and slightly reduce the compressive strength of AASC, it c, an remarkably reduce the shrinkage of AASC. The results also show that the setting time of AASC with a certain amount of magnesia increases with the buming temperature, and that the flexural and compressive strengths of AASC decrease with the increase of the additive amount of magnesia. Generally, the adverse effect of magnesia decreases with the increase of the burning temperature：, and the shrinkage-reducing effect of magnesia increases with the additive amount of magnesia. X-ray diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） analyses show that some magnesia particles in the hardened AASC paste at a 28-d age remained unhydrated, and that the compactness decreased a little as magnesia was added. We can also conclude that magnesia bumt at 850-950℃ can be used to reduce the shrinkage of AASC only when its additive amount does not exceed 8%; otherwise, the setting time may be too short, and the flexural and compressive strengths may severely decrease.

Degradation of Formaldehyde and Benzene by TiO2 Photocatalytic Cement Based Materials

A novel photocatalytic cement based material was prepared. The distribution of TiO2 on the surface of cement was characterized by scanning electron microscope（SEM） and X-ray diffraction（XRD）, which showed the relationship of photocatalysis and presence of TiO2. TiO2 also had an impact on cement hydration, which was studied by thermal analysis. With 300 W UV illuminations, formaldehyde and benzene were degraded efficiently by the prepared photocatalytic cement based materials. 15wt% TiO2/cement showed the highest degradation efficiency and capability. The results show that formaldehyde and benzene can be degraded within 4 and 9 hours, respectively. Besides, inorganic ions can induce TiO2 agglomeration. As a result, the presence of inorganic ions in cement is unfavorable for degradation. The photocatalytic cement based materials were fabricated and the degradation efficiency of formaldehyde was measured on building roof under sunlight illumination. Formaldehyde in glass chamber can be degraded thoroughly within 10 days.

Assessing geological uncertainty of a cement raw material deposit,southern Vietnam,based on hierarchical simulation

Resource modeling plays a crucial role in raw material quality management for cement manufacturing.Research has shown that geological uncertainty in resource modeling is inevitable and results in risk to future extraction planning and operations of the cement plant.This study aims to assess the geological uncertainty and associated risk in modeling a cement raw material deposit in southern Vietnam.For this deposit,soil,clay,laterite,and limestone are the four primary rock types,controlling the occurrence and spatial distribution of chemical grades.In this study,hierarchical simulation method was used to evaluate the uncertainty.Rock types were first simulated,and the chemical grades conditioning to the rock types were then generated.The results demonstrated the capability of the hierarchical simulation approach to incorporate the uncertainty of rock types in resource modeling and to allow evaluating the risks in providing the desired raw material for the cement plant in the form of grade-tonnage curves.

An Experimental Study of the Physicochemical Properties of a Cement Matrix Containing Dredged Materials

Recently, the amount of dredged soil material (DM) has been rapidly increasing in Korea due to four major river maintenance projects and new harbor construction. DM waste is mostly dumped into the ocean, while only a small part of it has been utilized for coastal reclaiming, or as filling and backfilling material. This study carried out physical and chemical tests to map out a specific plan for utilizing DM in a mortar mixture. The compressive strength tests and microstructure analysis using XRD and SEM of cement mortar contained DM were performed as a replacement for fine aggregate or as a filler material of mortar matrix. The study measured the impact of contaminants contained in DM and how silt and clay influenced the compressive strength of the mortar.

Effects of Surface-activated Coal Gangue Aggregates on Properties of Cement-based Materials

Effects of calcined coal gangue （CG） aggregates treated by the surface thermal activation on the flowability and strength, and paste-CG aggregate interfaces of the cement-based material were investigated. The experimental results show that the compressive and flexural strength of the cement-based material with the calcined CG aggregates is much higher than that of the material with the natural CG aggregates, but the flowability of the material with calcined CG is significantly reduced with the calcined time. The strength of the material with the calcined CG aggregates only increases little with the calcined time at the same w/c ratio, but is reduced with the calcined time at the same flowability. The CG aggregates calcined by the surface thermal activation obviously overcomes the disadvantages of fully calcined CG.

Experimental study on thermal and mechanical properties of tailings-based cemented paste backfill with CaCl_(2)·6H_(2)O/expanded vermiculite shape stabilized phase change materials

CaCl_(2)·6H_(2)O/expanded vermiculite shape stabilized phase change materials(CEV)was prepared by atmospheric impregnation method.Using gold mine tailings as aggregate of cemented paste backfill(CPB)material,the CPB with CEV added was prepared,and the specific heat capacity,thermal conductivity,and uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of CPB with different cement-tailing ratios and CEV addition ratios were tested,the influence of the above variables on the thermal and mechanical properties of CPB was analyzed.The results show that the maximum encapsulation capacity of expanded vermiculite for CaCl_(2)·6H_(2)O is about 60%,and the melting and solidification enthalpies of CEV can reach 98.87 J/g and 97.56 J/g,respectively.For the CPB without CEV,the specific heat capacity,thermal conductivity,and UCS decrease with the decrease of cement-tailing ratio.For the CPB with CEV added,with the increase of CEV addition ratio,the specific heat capacity increases significantly,and the sensible heat storage capacity and latent heat storage capacity can be increased by at least 10.74%and 218.97%respectively after adding 12%CEV.However,the addition of CEV leads to the increase of pores,and the thermal conductivity and UCS both decrease with the increase of CEV addition.When cement-tailing ratio is 1:8 and 6%,9%,and 12%of CEV are added,the 28-days UCS of CPB is less than 1 MPa.Considering the heat storage capacity and cost price of backfill,the recommended proportion scheme of CPB material presents cement-tailing ratio of 1:6 and 12%CEV,and the most recommended heat storage/release temperature cycle range of CPB with added CEV is from 20 to 40℃.This work can provide theoretical basis for the utilization of heat storage backfill in green mines.

Effect of Natural Zeolite on Performance of Sulfoaluminate Cement-based Planting Cementitious Material

This paper aimed to improve the water-retention performance and basic physical properties of sulfoaluminate cement（SAC）-based planting cementitious material. The effect of natural zeolite on the performance of SAC-based planting material was investigated. The water-retention performance, porosity, compressive strength, and alkalinity had been tested and TG-DSC analysis had been adopted in this paper. Experimental results showed that zeolite was effective to improve the water-retention capacity and 10%, 20% and 30% natural zeolite increased the pore volume of the hardened pastes by 10.6%, 26.0%, and 38.6%, especially pore size below 0.1 μm was increased by 9.7%, 26.2% and 17.5%. And 10% zeolite was beneficial to the compressive strengths of cementitious material and 1, 3, and 28 d compressive strength reached up to 35.9, 55.0, 80.3 MPa. Furthermore zeolite decreased the alkalinity of pore fluid of hardened cementitious material, while the addition of zeolite reached up to 30%, the alkalinity of pore fluid of hardened cementitious material decreased by 8.9%. Therefore zeolite was suitable for improving the performance of SAC-based planting cementitious material.