Abstract
Nowadays, in order to reach a more sustainable cement industry, several strategies have been put into practice. One of them is to increase the use of eco-friendly cements with lower content of clinker, replacing it by additions. Among them, the characterization of the performance of mortars and concretes prepared using cements made with ternary binders, which incorporate two additions, are now an important field of study In this research, the microstructure, durability-related properties and mechanical strength of mortars prepared using three ternary binders with incorporation of ground granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash and limestone have been studied. In these ternary binders, 30% of clinker has been replaced by two additions, and they consisted of 15% slag and 15% fly ash, 15% limestone and 15% fly ash, and 15% slag and 15% limestone, respectively. As reference mortars, it has also been prepared specimens with ordinary Portland cement without additions, as well as specimens made with other three binary binders, with only one of the studied additions, consisting of 30% limestone, 30% fly ash, and 30% ground granulated blast furnace slag, respectively. The mortars were exposed to an optimum laboratory condition (20ºC and 100% relative humidity) until 28 hardening days, when they were tested. The pore structure has been characterized using mercury intrusion porosimetry, electrical resistivity and differential thermal analysis. Absorption after immersion, ultrasonic pulse velocity and flexural and compressive strengths have also been studied. According to the results obtained, mortars with ternary binders showed an adequate performance.
Highlights
At present, in order to reach a more sustainable cement industry, several strategies have been put into practice
The highest total porosity, the lowest pore refinement, the lowest electrical resistivity and the smallest compressive strength have been observed for binary mortars with the only addition of limestone
This could be explained in relation to the fact the limestone is not an active addition, so its beneficial effects in the microstructure and properties development is limited compared to slag and fly ash
Summary
In order to reach a more sustainable cement industry, several strategies have been put into practice. In addition to the environmental benefits, some of these additions improve several properties of the cement-based materials [3,4]. As commercial cements, those made with binary binders, incorporating one addition as clinker replacement, are mostly produced nowadays. The use of ternary binders, in which clinker is partially replaced by two additions, for manufacturing commercial cements is very low, at least in Spain. To explore the performance of mortars and concretes prepared using cements made with ternary binders [5] could be a promising research field for giving more solutions to improve the sustainability of cement industry
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