Shrinkage Behavior of Alkali-Activated Slag Cement Pastes

Abstract

Nowadays, alkali-activated cements (AACs) are the most promising alternatives to ordinary portland cement (OPC). Such cements characterized by better strength and corrosion resistance that determine improved durability of materials based on them. However, the shrinkage of AAC systems is noticeably higher compared with OPC. The purpose of this work was to study the shrinkage behavior of alkali-activated slag cement (AASC) pastes. To improve early age performance of AASCs – OPC and Ca(OH)2, as mineral additives, were added to the designed cement mixtures. The properties, like, flexural and compressive strength of cement mortars, chemical shrinkage, autogenous shrinkage and drying shrinkage of cement pastes were studied. The results showed that the chemical shrinkage, autogenous shrinkage and drying shrinkage at 28 days were between 0.064 – 0.074 ml/g, 4.5 – 7.9 mm/m and 3.3 – 4.9 mm/m, respectively. The relationship between the nature of alkaline components, the type of mineral additives and the shrinkage behavior of cements were discussed.