Sustainable composite cement prepared by two different types of iron slag

Abstract

The utilization of two kinds of iron slag in the production of pozzolanic cement is introduced. A series was created with a fixed percentage of OPC (30%) and varying amounts of imported granulated blast-furnace slag (IGBFS) and air-cooled slag (ACS) at which imported IGBFS was substituted by ACS with the mass ratios of 10, 20, and 30%. Physico-mechanical properties and hydration parameters of the hardened pastes were examined at different time intervals. Furthermore, the aggressive attack of seawater on chosen specimens was studied for up to one year of immersion. The hardened composite cement pastes were tested in terms of weight loss, compressive strength, bulk density, total porosity, and free lime at different thermally treated temperatures starting at 105 °C and ending at 800 °C for 2 h of a socking period to investigate its thermal characteristics. XRD, IR, and DTA/TGA techniques were used to examine some chosen samples. The results revealed that the incorporation of ACS reduces the water consistency and prolongs setting times. Compressive strengths are higher in samples containing 10% ACS than those specimens containing 20–30 wt% and without ACS. A 7% reduction in the compressive strength was achieved by A1 (30%OPC and 70% IGBFS), which is the lowest one over 1 year of exposure to seawater. The incorporation of ACS at the expense of IGBFS tends to lower the strength but tends to enhance the bulk density.