Role of an Amorphous Silica in Portland Cement Concrete
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 18, Issue 6
Abstract
An amorphous silica (AS) replacing up to 10% of the portland cement by mass in concrete behaved partly as a traditional pozzolan, partly crystallized to quartz and the rest underwent some (crystal) structural reorganization without morphological changes. The pozzolanic behavior was evident from a reduction in the calcium hydroxide content of AS-cement paste with time. A new crystalline phase was observed in the scanning electron microscope only when AS was present, and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis coupled with X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy confirmed that it was the most stable form of silica, quartz. The presence of AS changed the concrete’s microstructure, aggregate–paste interface, and pore size distribution.
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Acknowledgments
The help provided by Rick Young, Department of Geology and Geophysics, in polished thin section and sample preparation for micro-XANES is greatly appreciated. Josef Hormes (Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices), Hartwig Modrow and Bernadetta Frenzel (of the Physics Department of the University of Bonn, Germany) are acknowledged for providing the silica polymorphs. The writers thank Ms. Joyce Beskitt from PPG Industries, Inc., Chemical Groups Technical Center, Monroeville, Pa., for the porosity measurements. The writers also acknowledge the financial support from the Industrial Ties Program of the Louisiana Education Quality Support Fund and the Silica Products Division of PPG Industries, Lake Charles, La. Further, the writers acknowledge the assistance provided by Dennis Emily and Jim Dew of the Silica Products Division, PPG Industries.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 18 • Issue 6 • December 2006
Pages: 747 - 753
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 3, 2003
Accepted: Dec 5, 2005
Published online: Dec 1, 2006
Published in print: Dec 2006
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Manoochehr Zoghi
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