Longitudinal Deformation of Mortar Bars Containing Reactive MgO during Carbonation Curing and Sulfate Solution Immersion
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 31, Issue 11
Abstract
Reactive magnesium oxide (r-MgO) as a replacement of portland cement (PC) not only brings potential to reduce the embodied carbon in construction materials, but also brings uncertainties in the volumetric stability of carbonated r-MgO-PC systems during carbonation curing and sulfate exposure. This study investigates the longitudinal length and mass change of mortar bars with r-MgO replacement levels of 0%, 30%, 50%, and 70% when specimens are subjected to atmospheric drying, accelerated carbonation curing, distilled water immersion, and solution immersion. Experimental results revealed that carbonated mortar bars with a 30% r-MgO replacement level achieve a greater expansion after 24 months of sulfate solution immersion compared with mortar bars made with 100% PC. Formation of gypsum and ettringite are expected to be the main reasons for the expansion. The 50% and 70% r-MgO mortars exhibited volumetric and gravimetric stabilities during accelerated carbonation curing and sulfate solution immersion.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study are included in the published paper.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge Ms. Olga Perebatova from the University of Toronto for her input and assistance with the experiments. Prof. Liwu Mo from Nanjing University of Technology is acknowledged for providing materials. The authors are grateful for Professor Panesar’s Early Research Award from the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation and NSERC.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 31 • Issue 11 • November 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 21, 2018
Accepted: Jun 4, 2019
Published online: Aug 29, 2019
Published in print: Nov 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Jan 29, 2020
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