Properties and microstructure of alkali-activated slag cement cured at below- and about-normal temperature》.pdf

Construction and Building Materials 79 (2015) 1–8 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Construction and Building Materials journal homepage: /lo cate/conbuildmat Properties and microstructure of alkali-activated slag cement cured at below- and about-normal temperature Gu Ya-min, Fang Yong-hao ⇑, You Duo, Gong Yong-fan, Zhu Chen-hui College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University, 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing 210098, China h i g h l i g h t s Alkali activated slag paste and mortar specimens were cured at 7–30 C. Curing at below normal temperature retards the setting and shrinkage of AAS. Curing at below normal temperature has little influence on later strength. Paste becomes more compact with the increases of the curing temperature. AAS paste cured at below-normal temperature for long age can develop to highly compact structure. a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: This work experimentally investigated the effects of curing temperatures (7, 15, 20 and 30 C) on the set- Received 15 August 2014 ting time, strength development, shrinkage, and microstructure of alkali activated slag (AAS). The results Received in revised form 28 October 2014 indicated that the impact of the curing temperature was much more significant on the setting time of AAS Accepted 27 December 2014 than on that of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), and 7 C curing could prolong the initial and final setting Available online 20 January 2015 times of AAS without significant decrease of later strength, and inc