Effect of chemical admixtures on properties of high-calcium fly ash geopolymer

Owing to the high viscosity of sodium silicate solution, fly ash geopolymer has the problems of low workability and rapid setting time. Therefore, the effect of chemical admixtures on the properties of fly ash geopolymer was studied to overcome the rapid set of the geo-polymer in this paper. High-calcium fly ash and alkaline solution were used as starting materials to synthesize the geopolymer. Calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, sodium sulfate, and sucrose at dosages of 1wt% and 2wt% of fly ash were selected as admixtures based on concrete knowledge to improve the properties of the geopolymer. The setting time, compressive strength, and degree of reaction were recorded, and the microstructure was examined. The results show that calcium chloride significantly shortens both the initial and final setting times of the geopolymer paste. In addition, sucrose also delays the final setting time significantly. The degrees of reaction of fly ash in the geopolymer paste with the admixtures are all higher than those of the control paste. This contributes to the obvious increases in compressive strength.

Effect of Anti-freezing Admixtures on Alkali-silica Reaction in Mortars

The influence of anti-freezing admixture on the alkali aggregate reaction in mortar was analyzed with accelerated methods. It is confirmed that the addition of sodium salt ingredients of anti-freezing admixture accelerates the alkali silica reaction to some extent, whereas calcium salt ingredient of anti-freezing admixture reduces the expansion of alkali silica reaction caused by high alkali cement. It is found that the addition of the fly ash considerably suppresses the expansion of alkali silica reaction induced by the anti-freezing admixtures.

INFLUENCE OF MINERAL ADMIXTURES ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE CONCRETE

The improvements of the mechanical properties, including bulk density of fresh mixtures, elastic modulus, and compressive strengths of four high-performance concrete mixtures, made with the addition of fly ash, refined ground blast - furnace microslag (microslag) and silica fume are studied. The concrete mixtures were determined based on the dispersion testing results. The study indicates that the elastic modulus at 28 and 91 days, and compressive strengths of the concretes are improved a lot when fly ash and microslag by 25 percent by weight of cement are added into the mixtures individually. The improvement is especially evident when silica fume by 5 percent and fly ash by 25 percent by weight of cement are added together into the mixture, while the fresh concrete mixture keeps a good workability. Through the analysis of chemically combined water ratios of the four mixtures at various hydration ages, it is found that the addition of all these mineral mixtures are beneficial to the hydration process, especially, at later stages, which might be one of the reasons for the improvement of mechanical properties. (Author abstract) 4 Refs.

Influence of Cement Types and Mineral Admixtures on Resistance of Mortar to Sulfate Attack under Lower Temperature

Mortar prisms made with different cements or mineral admixtures plus 30% mass of limes tone filler were stored in 2% magnesium sulfate solution at 5±1 ℃ for 1 year and their visual appearance,strength development were measured at intervals.The formation of thaumasite was checked and confirmed by XRD and FTIR.The results show that the relative resistance to thaumasite form of sulfate attack of the cements is outlined below,from best to worst:sulphoaluminate cement,sulfate resisting Portland cement,OPC.The resistance to thaumasite form of sulfate attack of mortar is remarkably improved by the addition of silica fume or ground granulated blastfurnace slag (SL),and the better the resistance to thaumasite form of sulfate attack,the more the addition of SL is.The thaumasite form of sulfate attack is decreased to a certain degree by a lower replacement of cement with fly ash,but it is accelerated by the addition of a higher amount of fly ash due to its lower reactivity.

Effects of Admixtures on the Anti-oxidation Property of MgO/Si_3N_4 Composite Refractory

The effect of the admixtures of Al and Si metals and B4 C and MgAlON compounds on the oxidation of MgO/ Si3N4 composite refractory has been studied, which is a promising carbon free refractory for steel-making application . The four kinds of admixtures can be used as anti-oxi-dants for Si3N4, but the mixture of Al and Si achieved the best result. The mixture can not only play the role as anti-oxidant, but also assist the sintering process and help form dense sintering layer, improving the property of the composite.

Grey Clustering Theory to Assess the Effect of Mineral Admixtures on the Cyclic Sulfate Resistance of Concrete

Concrete specimens made with ordinary portland cement or ordinary portland cement incorporating fly ash with the replacement of 10% or 20%, ground blast furnace slag with the replacement of 15% or 30%, or 15% fly ash and 15% ground blast furnace slag were made and exposed to a cyclic sulfate environment. Concrete properties including relative dynamic elastic modulus, chloride ion diffusion coefficient, compressive strength and flexural strength were measured. Effect of mineral admixtures on the cyclic sulfate resistance of concrete was assessed based on the grey clustering theory. The experimental results indicate that the cyclic sulfate resistance of concrete incorporating ground blast furnace slag belongs to the higher grey grade, which exhibits that it possesses excellent cyclic sulfate resistance. With increasing addition of fly ash, the cyclic sulfate resistance of concrete changes from the medium grey grade to the lower grey grade, which shows that incorporation of fly ash is disadvantageous for the cyclic sulfate resistance of concrete.

Effect of Functional Chemical Admixtures on the Performance of Cement Asphalt Mortar Used in Ballastless Track

Chemical admixtures are of paramount importance to the performance of modern cement based composites. In this paper, we performed a series of tests to investigate the effects of chemical admixtures on the cement asphalt mortar(CA mortar), i e, compressive strength, frost resistance, permeability, fatigue resistance, pore structure and microstructure. In particular, two types of chemical admixtures were tested, i e, defoamer(tributyl phosphate(TBP)) and polycarboxylate superplasticizer(PS). The results indicate that the addition of TBP and PS eliminates big bubbles and promotes small non-connected pores forming in matrix. Besides, an optimum dosage of TBP and PS may be determined with respect to the frost resistance, permeability and fatigue resistance of CA mortar. Further elaborative discussions are presented as well as experimental evidences from mercury intrusion porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy.

Numerical study on characteristics of radio-frequency discharge at atmospheric pressure in argon with small admixtures of oxygen

In this paper, a 1D fluid model is developed to study the characteristics of a discharge in argon with small admixtures of oxygen at atmospheric pressure. This model consists of a series of equations, including continuity equations for electrons, positive ions, negative ions and neutral particles, the energy equation, and the Poisson equation for electric potential. Special attention has been paid to the electron energy dissipation and the mechanisms of electron heating, while the admixture of oxygen is in the range of 0.1%-0.6%. It is found that when the oxygen-to-argon ratio grows, the discharge is obviously divided into three stages： electron growth, electron reduction and the electron remaining unchanged. Furthermore, the cycle-averaged electric field, electron temperature, electron Ohmic heating, electron collisionless heating, electron energy dissipation and the net electron production are also studied in detail, and when the oxygen-to- argon ratio is relatively larger （R = 0.6%）, double value peaks of electron Ohmic heating appear in the sheath. According to the results of the numerical simulation, various oxygen-to-argon ratios result in different amounts of electron energy dissipation and electron heating.

Early-age Electrical Resistivity and Reactive Capacity of Mineral Admixtures in Mortars

A non-contacting electrical resistivity measurement device was used to investigate the effect of different types and contents of mineral admixtures on the hydration perfrormanee of mortars during early age. The experimental results show that the changes of measured resistivity with time of hydration can be used to describe the hydration characteristics of cement-based materials, as well as the physical and chemical behavior of fly ash; blast furnace slag and silica fume at the very early ages. With an increasing replacement ratio of mineral admixtures, for the specimens blended with fly ash or slag, the resistivity increases firstly, then the following flatting period extends and after setting the resistivity increasing becomes slow and consequently a lower resistivity value at 24 hours occurs. This is due to the dilution effect and lower pozzolanicl hydraulic activity of fly ash and slag. However, for the samples incorporated with silica fume, the resistivity value through 24 hours is lower with shorter flatting period and larger slope in the resistivity curves, which is because of its particle size effect and higher pozzolanic activity of silica fume. Moreover, non-contacting resistivity measurement might provide a helpful information to predict the long term performanee including the durability of cement-based materials at early ages.

Influence of Mineral Admixtures on the Permeability of Lightweight Aggregate Concrete

The permeability of lightweight aggregate concrete was studied. Some efforts were taken to increase the resistance of lightweight aggregate concrete (LC) to water penetration by using the mineral admixtures of fly ash, granulated blast furnace slag or silica fume. Accelerated chloride penetrability test and liquid atmosphere press method were used to study the anti-permeability of lightweight aggregate concrete. The experimental results show that fly ash, granulated blast furnace slag and silica fume can decrease the permeability of lightweight aggregate concrete, but the effect of granulated blast furnace slag is poor. According to the SEM and pore structure analyzing results,an interface self-reinforcing effect model was presented and the reinforced mechanism of mineral mixture on LC was discussed according to the model described by authors.

Effect of Alkaline Electrolyzed Water on Performance Improvement of Green Concrete with High Volume of Mineral Admixtures

The strength and durability of concrete will be significantly reduced at high volume of mineral admixture,and the poor early strength of concrete also still needs to be solved.In this investigation,a highly active alkaline electrolyzed waters was used as mixing water to improve the early strength and enhance the durability of green concrete with high volume mineral admixture,the influences of alkaline electrolyzed water(AEW)on hydration activity of mineral admixture and durability of concrete were determined.The results showed that compared with natural tap water,AEW can accelerate early hydration process of cement in concrete and produce comparatively more hydrated products,leading to a 13.6%higher compressive strength than that of ordinary concrete at early age,but the improvement effect of AEW concrete was relatively reduced at long-term age.Meanwhile,the activity of mineral admixtures could be stimulated by AEW to some extent,the strength and durability performance of AEW concrete after double doping 25%slag and 25%fly ash can still reach the level of ordinary cement concrete without mineral admixtures.The SEM micromorphology of 7 d hydrated natural tap water cement paste was observed to be flaky and tabular,but the AEW cement pastes present obvious cluster and granulation phenomenon.The SEM microstructure of AEW concrete with mineral admixtures is more developed and denser than ordinary tap water concrete with mineral admixtures.Therefore,the AEW probably could realize the effective utilization of about 50%mineral admixture amount of concrete without strength loss,the cement production cost and associated CO_(2) emission reduced,which has a good economic and environmental benefit.

Improvising the Self-Healing Capabilities of Concrete Using Different Pozzolanic Materials and Crystalline Admixtures

To analyse the self-healing capacities in terms of mechanical performance of the pozzolanic materials,such as,fly ash,metakaolin and silica fume and crystalline admixtures.Pre-cracked concrete cubes with about 0.05 mm width were exposed to four different environmental conditions at different exposure times in order to determine the effect of temperature and water availability on the self-healing potential.After the exposure,the control and tested concrete cubes were evaluated for regained strength,void reduction,corrosion inhibition,damp proofing,relative impermeability and durability.The samples with SF10CA have better cementitious filling and low percentage of voids and water absorption.

Influence of Mineral Admixtures on the Electrodeposition Healing Effect of Concrete Cracks

Two types of solutions（Zn SO4, Mg SO4） were selected to study the influence of mineral admixtures on the electro-deposition healing effect of concrete cracks. Four parameters（i e, rates of weight gain, surface coating, crack closure and crack filling depth） were measured. The mineral composition of electro-deposits in the cracks was analyzed. The study shows that the healing effect of mortar specimens with 10% fly ash is the worst, while the healing effect of mortar specimens with 20% fly ash is better than that of the specimens without fly ash. The rates of weight gain, surface coating, crack closure and crack filling depth decrease with increasing content of the ground granulated blast-furnace slag（GGBS）. The mineral admixtures have no influence on the composition of deposits.

Coupled effect of viscosity enhancing admixtures and superplasticizers on rheological behavior of cement paste

The coupled effect of viscosity enhancing admixtures(VEA)and superplasticizer(SP)on the rheological behavior of cement paste was investigated in this work.Two types of VEAs,including hydroxypropyl methylcellulose(HPMC)and Welan gum,and two types of SPs,i.e.polycarboxylate(PCA)and polynaphthalenesulfonate(PNS)were used as admixtures for cement paste.Rheological curves of cement paste and simulated pore solution containing VEA and SP were tested.Simulated pore solution test results show that molecules of different SPs may generate different effects on the viscosity of VEA solutions.Hershel-Bulkley(H-B)model was used to fit rheological curve of cement paste.Strong interaction between PNS and HPMC was observed in this work.

Influence of Mineral Admixtures on Chloride Ion Permeation through Concrete

Through the rapid chloride ion penetration test,the influence of fly ash and slag on chloride ion permeability and microstructure of concrete was studied.The results indicate that the addition of fly ash increases concrete permeability at 28 days.With the slag content of 20% and 30%,the permeability of concrete at 28 days is reduced.The positive effect of slag is due to its relatively stronger pozzolanic reactive ability resulted in the most probable pore size and total porosity decreased.When the slag content reaches 40%,the concrete permeability showes the tendency ofincrease.

The Influence of Mineral Admixtures on Bending Strength of Mortar on the Premise of Equal Compressive Strength

The influence of mineral admixtures on bending strength of mortar on the premise of equal compressive strength was investigated. Three mineral admixtures （fly ash, ground granulated blast-furnace slag and steel slag） were used. The adding amount of mineral admixture in this study ranges from 22.5% to 60%, and the water-to-binder ratio ranges from 0.34 to 0.50. With equal compressive strength, different mortars can be arranged in such a descending order with their bending strength： cement-fly ash mortar, cement mortar, cement-GGBS mortar, and cement-steel slag mortar. With the same compressive strength, the higher the steel slag content and water-to-binder ratio, the lower the bending strength of mortars. However, the effect of mineral mixture content and water-to-binder ratio on the bending strength of cement-fly ash mortar and cement-GGBS mortar is far inconspicuous.

Influence of Mineral Admixtures on Corrosion of Steel Rebar in Concrete

The effects of several mineral admixtures such as silica fume,granulated ground blast furnace slag and fly ash at different replacement ratio instead of Portland cement on the corrosion of steel reinforced concrete were investigated.By measuring the rebar anode polarization curve,permeability of concrete,mass loss of steel rebar and the amount of chloride ions and hydroxide in mortar,the corrosion resistance of steel embedded in fresh mortar incorporated of salt and different mineral admixtures were evaluated respectively.The results show that most mineral admixture can not improve corrosion resistance of concrete at early ages.However,in the long term the addition of mineral admixtures can decrease obviously the permeability of concrete and free chloride content in the pore solution of concrete as well as effectively improve the protection ability of passive film of steel rebar.

Effect of Mineral Admixtures on Alkali-Silica Reaction

The influence of silica fume, slag and fly ash on alkali-silica reaction under the condition of 70 ℃ is studied. The results show that silica, slag and fly ash may inhibit alkali-silica reaction only under suitable content. When the content is less than 10%, silica fume does not markedly influence the expansion of alkali- silica reaction. When the content is 15%-20%, silica fume only may delay the expansion of alkali-silica reaction. When the content is 30%-70%, slag may only delay the expansion of alkali-silica reaction, but cannot inhibit the expansion of alkali-silica reaction. When the content is 10%, fly ash does not markedly influence the expansion of alkali-silica reaction. When the content is 20%-30%, fly ash may only delay the expansion of alkali-silica reaction, but cannot inhibit the expansion of alkali-silica reaction. When the content is over 50%, it is possible that fly ash can inhibit effectively alkali-silica reaction.

The Mechanism of the Eeffect of Mineral Admixtures on the Expansion of Aalkali-silica Reaction

On the base of the influence rule of silica fume, slag and fly ash on alkali-silica reaction under the condition of 70 ℃, the mechanism of the effect of mineral admixtures on alkali-silica reaction is studied further in the paper. The results show that the effects of mineral admixtures on alkali-silica reaction are mainly chemistry effect and surface physichemistry effect. Under suitable condition, the chemistry effect may make alkali-silica reaction to be inhibited effectively, but the physichemistry effect only make alkali-silica reaction to be delayed. The chemistry effect and the physichemistry effect of minerals admixture are relative to the content of Ca（OH）2 in system. Under the condition that there is a large quantity of Ca（OH）2, mineral admixture cannot inhibit alkali-silica reaction effectively. Only when Ca（OH）2 in the system is very less, it is possible that mineral admixture inhibits alkali-silica reaction effectively.

Preparation of graphite nanosheets in different solvents by sand milling and their enhancement on tribological properties of lithium-based grease

Graphite nanosheets with the average thicknesses ranging from 24.4 to 48.9 nm were prepared with the use of expanded graphite as the raw material by sand milling in deionized water,anhydrous ethanol,glycerol,and 1,4-butanediol,respectively.Anhydrous ethanol favored the formation of graphite nanosheets with a smaller average thickness.When the graphite nanosheets with the content of 2 wt%were added in lithium-based grease,the average friction coefficient decreased by 27%as compared with the pure lithium-based grease.The weld point and load wear index were 1.6 and 1.4 times those of the pure lithium-based grease,respectively.The tribological properties of the graphite nanosheet-containing lithium-based grease were comparable with those of the graphene-containing lithium-based grease.