Role of Limestone Powder in Early-Age Cement Paste Considering Fineness Effects
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32, Issue 10
Abstract
This paper investigates the influence of limestone powder (LS) fineness on the early-age properties of portland cement paste. Blended pastes with LS were prepared based on volumetric ratio and their fresh properties, chemical shrinkage, and hydration were measured. Fresh properties were evaluated by water demand for normal consistency, yield stress, plastic viscosity, and bleeding ratio. Chemical shrinkage was measured using the helium pycnometry method. Hydration products and the hydration process were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), and calorimetry tests. Results show that LS significantly affects the properties of portland cement and this effect greatly depends on its fineness. Specifically, LS coarser than cement decreases water demand, plastic viscosity, and yield stress, while finer ones have the opposite effects. Plastic viscosity is related to the particle density (particle number per solids) and specific surface area of total powders. Bleeding resistance is improved for blended paste with finer LS. Chemical shrinkage results demonstrate that LS indeed increases chemical shrinkage per gram of cement because of promotion on cement hydration. But this influence on the volume change of total paste is mitigated because of the dilution effect. XRD patterns show that LS does not react with cement hydrates at 24 h and preliminarily indicates the promotion of LS on cement hydration. Calorimetry results further confirm that LS accelerates and amplifies cement hydration despite its fineness and this promotion is more significant when LS is finer. This promotion is also confirmed by hydration degrees calculated from both heat of hydration and nonevaporable water content.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by National Key Research and Development Projects (2018YFC0705404), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51878480, 51878479, 51678442, 51878481, and 51878496) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32 • Issue 10 • October 2020
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©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Nov 6, 2019
Accepted: Mar 25, 2020
Published online: Jul 27, 2020
Published in print: Oct 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Dec 27, 2020
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