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Effect of superplasticizer addition time and metakaolin source on the early-age hydration of limestone calcined clay cement (LC3)

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Abstract

It is known that superplasticizer (SP) presence and addition time play an important role in the hydration of Portland cement (PC). However, this is not clear yet for limestone calcined clay cements (LC3). Besides, the role of metakaolin characteristics in the early hydration of LC3 is not fully understood, especially in the presence of SP. In this work, PC and LC3 pastes were produced without and with SP added directly in the mixing water or with a 10-min delay. LC3 were produced with two different metakaolin sources. Isothermal calorimetry and in-situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) were conducted for 48 h. Results showed that LC3 hydration was marginally affected during the first two days by SP incorporation, contrary to PC systems where SP delayed the hydration kinetics. Furthermore, direct SP addition delayed the conversion of the intermediate short-range ordered C-(A)-S-H into the known long-range ordered arrangement in both PC and LC3 systems, while delayed SP addition prevented it. Calcined clays showed pozzolanic activity within the first two days of hydration in LC3 samples, but SP incorporation delayed the pozzolanic reaction onset by around 9 h. SP hindered the crystallization of portlandite in both PC and LC3 systems, which was more evident for PC.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Brazilian governmental agencies CNPq and CAPES. PRM, EDR, and APK acknowledge the funding from FAPERGS (Grant No. 21/2551-0000723-0). The XRD data was collected in the Laboratório de Difração de Raios-X (LDRX-UFSC) multiuser facility. Dr. Daniel Jansen is kindly acknowledged for the insightful discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Coordenadoria Acadêmica, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, Brazil

    P. R. de Matos

  2. Núcleo Orientado Para Inovação da Edificação (NORIE), Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil

    J. S. Andrade Neto & A. P. Kirchheim

  3. Departmento de Engenharia Civil, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Brazil

    R. D. Sakata

  4. Departmento de Física, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Brazil

    C. E. M. Campos

  5. Departmento de Estruturas e Construção Civil, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, Brazil

    E. D. Rodríguez

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de Matos, P.R., Andrade Neto, J.S., Sakata, R.D. et al. Effect of superplasticizer addition time and metakaolin source on the early-age hydration of limestone calcined clay cement (LC3). Mater Struct 55, 218 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-022-02049-w

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