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Drying shrinkage of alkali-activated cements: effect of humidity and curing temperature

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Abstract

Alkali-activated concrete (AAC) is a recycled and low-CO2 alternative to ordinary portland cement (OPC) concrete. One challenge with AACs is their propensity to shrinkage and cracking. In this work, drying shrinkage of four different structural-grade AACs was studied, namely: an activated class F fly ash, an activated slag, and two activated fly ash/slag blends. All four binders and a control OPC binder had the same (liquid/solid)vol and initial porosity. Drying shrinkage and mass loss of paste prisms were monitored as a function of time, relative humidity (RH), and the preceding moist-curing temperature. The results show that all AACs moist cured at 23 °C (73 °F) showed high shrinkage in comparison with the OPC binder and the shrinkage increased with higher proportions of fly ash. Steam curing at 60 °C (140 °F) substantially reduced the shrinkage of fly ash-rich mixtures, but it was less effective for slag-rich mixtures. Slag mixtures showed a significant time dependent response (creep), where the pastes continued to shrink after their mass loss had reached equilibrium.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Award CMMI #1265789. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors appreciate Headwaters Resources and Lehigh Cement for donating the fly ash and slag. All tests were performed at the Civil Infrastructure Testing and Evaluation Laboratory (CITEL) and the Materials Research Institute (MRI) of the Pennsylvania State University.

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  1. Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Maryam Hojati

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Farshad Rajabipour & Aleksandra Radlińska

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  1. Maryam Hojati
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  2. Farshad Rajabipour
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Correspondence to Maryam Hojati.

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Hojati, M., Rajabipour, F. & Radlińska, A. Drying shrinkage of alkali-activated cements: effect of humidity and curing temperature. Mater Struct 52, 118 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-019-1430-1

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