Shrinkage properties of concretes using blast furnace slag and frost-resistant accelerator

Abstract

This study investigated the shrinkage properties of concretes using blast furnace slag cement and frost-resistant accelerator as a construction technology in environmental-load-reducing cold weather concretes. The investigation results showed that as the frost-resistant accelerator was added to both Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Blast Furnace Slag Cement (BB), the effect on the properties of fresh concrete was reduced and the compressive strength was increased from an early age. In addition, the free shrinkage strain and cracking potential at the same age tended to increase and the study result verified that the crack generation was also fast in the restrained condition. Meanwhile, the study results verified that the length of both of OPC and BB tended to increase upon adding the frost-resistant accelerator. Pore volume <30 nm diameter, in particular, 20–30 nm pore volume, and ink-bottle pore volume decreased such that the shrinkage volume increased, and the change in pore volume in this range was regarded as having a large effect on the shrinkage properties.