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Rheology of Alkali-Activated Blended Binder Mixtures
Biruk Hailu Tekle1, Ludwig Hertwig1, Klaus Holschemacher1
1Structural Concrete Institute (IfB), Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK Leipzig), 04277 Leipzig, Germany.
Abstract:
Alkali-activated cement (AAC) is an alternative cement that has been increasingly studied over the past decades mainly because of its environmental benefits. However, most studies are on heat-cured AACs and are focused on mechanical properties. There is a lack of research on the fresh properties of ambient-cured AAC systems. This study investigates the rheological properties of ambient-temperature-cured alkali-activated blended binder mixtures activated with sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide solutions. The influence of binder amount, alkaline solid to binder ratio (AS/B), sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide solids ratio (SS/SH), and total water content to total solid (from the binding materials) ratio (TW/TS) on the rheological properties are investigated. The effect of borax as an admixture and silica fume as a replacement for fly ash is also investigated. The results showed that both the yield stress and plastic viscosity are mainly affected by the binder content and TW/TS ratio decreasing with the increase of each parameter. The yield stress increased with the increase of the SS/SH ratio. Borax significantly reduced the yield stress, while silica fume's effect was dependent on its dosage.
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