Influence of Metakaolin on Strength and Microstructure of High-Strength Concrete

Abstract

Concrete with a compressive strength of 100MPa was produced with metakaolin(MK), and the effect of MK replacement levels on compressive strength of concrete with a water to binder ratio of 0.25 was studied in this paper. XRD, microhardness tests, SEM and MIP were used to investigate the influences of MK on the phase composition, microhardness of interfacial transition zone(ITZ), microstructural morphology and pore structure of the high-strength concrete (HSC). The results showed that the incorporation of MK promoted the hydration process and decreased the amount of Ca(OH)2 crystals. Furthermore, MK increased the ITZ microhardness of HSC, enhanced the hydrates and improved the bond performance of aggregate and paste. The weak zone between aggregate and paste became almost disappeared when 10% MK was blended. Meanwhile, refinement of the concrete pore structure was obtained in the presence of MK. The improvement of strength and microstructure became more obvious as the MK replacement level increased to 15%.