Study on the performance of ternary blended cement with calcined clay and recycled concrete powder

Abstract

Recycled concrete powder (RCP) has a large amount of calcium carbonate, which suggests that it can be used to make limestone - calcined clay (CC) cement (LC3) system by replacing limestone powder. So that it can promote the recycling of construction demolition waste and reduce the requirement of the natural resource for LC3. In this study, the fresh and hardened properties of CC-RCP cement system were comprehensively characterized by varying the CC/RCP ratio and dosage, including rheological, mechanical properties, hydration products and pore structure. The results indicate that the addition of CC prolong the setting time, but the effect could be mitigated by the recombination of RCP. By comparing with RCP, CC had a less obvious effect on increasing viscosity, but it could improve the shear thickening behavior of paste. In the case of less total content of CC and RCP, a ratio of 1:1 CC/RCP was better for the development of long-term strength. Whereas, with the increasing of substitution, the mixtures with CC alone or blending with RCP in a 2:1 ratio achieved higher strength. The incorporating of CC and RCP could make the conversion of C4AH13 into hemicarboaluminate (Hc) and monocarboaluminate (Mc), and it resulted in a denser structure with more medium capillary pores and gel pores than that mixtures with CC only.