Modeling the Variation in Hydration and Strength of Blended Cement–Fly Ash Systems
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 33, Issue 8
Abstract
Variations in the properties of fly ashes from various sources can lead to large variations in the performance of fly ash–blended cement systems. The current study combines analytical and numerical modeling approaches to predict such variations in the hydration behavior of cement paste and compressive strength of mortars with different fly ashes. A microstructural modeling software was used to model the hydration of cement and fly ash. Fly ash parameters such as particle size distribution and reactive content were used to model the variation in fly ash hydration. The fit parameters were determined based on the experimental results obtained from isothermal calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. Heat of hydration and compressive strength results obtained from the modeling agree well with the experimental results. The results also show that modeling can be used not only to determine deterministic quantities such as heat of hydration and compressive strength but also probabilistic quantities like variation in heat of hydration and strength. Such models could be useful for safety parameters in probabilistic design. The model was further used to predict the reduction in variation due to blending of fly ashes from various sources.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB/F/2766/2012-13), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India for sponsoring this research.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 33 • Issue 8 • August 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 10, 2020
Accepted: Dec 18, 2020
Published online: Jun 15, 2021
Published in print: Aug 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Nov 15, 2021
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