Importance of amorphous content, surface energy, and preferred orientation on the accurate quantification of cement minerals in clinkers

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In this study, a quantitative phase analysis of nine different clinkers was performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Density function theory simulation was also used to support the observed phenomenon of the micro-grinding-induced variation of the preferred orientation effect on certain mineral phases. Regardless of the micro-grinding, the amount of ferrite solid solution (C4AF) phase was overestimated in the quantitative XRD (QXRD) result when amorphous content was excluded during the QXRD analysis. Meanwhile, when the amorphous content was considered, a reasonable amount of C4AF phase was obtained in the clinker with the micro-grinding. Although the phase transition of the alite (C3S) (M3) phase to the nano-crystalline phase was observed during micro-grinding, the well-refined preferred orientation was confirmed at the C3S (M3) peaks. Thus, it was revealed that these crystallographic effects induced by micro-grinding can contribute to the accurate quantification of clinker materials.