Impurity-Free Synthesis of Calcium Silicate Hydrate Seed-Based Concrete Hardening Accelerator from Agricultural Waste
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 4
Abstract
The requirements of early strength gain in concrete are indispensable in various structural applications such as precast industry, underwater construction, construction at low temperatures, shotcrete concrete, and so on. Generally, to accelerate the strength gain process in concrete under such applications, conventional hardening accelerators are used, which often suffer from different limitations, such as lowering of ultimate strength and durability properties. Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) seed-based accelerators have the potential to overcome the limitations associated with conventional accelerators. Therefore, they are gradually becoming popular. In this research work, a novel ion-exchange process-based method has been developed and validated for the synthesis of a C-S-H-based accelerator, which successfully eliminated the limitations associated with commercially available hardening accelerators. The synthesis process used inexpensive resources such as agricultural waste to produce a C-S-H seed suspension that is almost free from harmful chemical impurities. Different characterization studies were performed to determine the structural, morphological, and chemical properties of the synthesized C-S-H seed. The heat of hydration and compressive strength studies proved that the material is effective in achieving early strength gains in concrete. The presence of synthesized C-S-H seeds in concrete effectively accelerated the strength gain process by approximately 40% during the initial hours of setting. Therefore, the developed hardening accelerator, when incorporated in concrete, has the potential to reduce the formwork removal time, resulting in the acceleration of the production cycle of precast elements.
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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 would like to thank National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) Limited, New Delhi, India, for providing a grant for carrying out this work.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 4 • April 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 25, 2022
Accepted: Jul 6, 2022
Published online: Jan 19, 2023
Published in print: Apr 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jun 19, 2023
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