Cement Mortar Mixtures Research Articles

Performance of Cement Mortar Mixtures Containing Fine Aggregate and Admixtures

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the cement/sand (c/s) ratio on the behavior of cement mortar. The used c/s ratios in this study were 1:0, 1:0.45, and 1:0.83. The findings of this study showed that increasing the sand content reduces the compressive strength of the mortar mixture by 41.5 and 28.2% for the c/s ratios of 1:0.45, and 1:0.83, compared to the plain cement mortar (c/s: 1:0). The increase in sand content requires more water content to increase the workability and strength of the mixtures. However, the flexural strength slightly increased compared to the control mortar. In addition, to enhance sustainability, the cement was replaced with two waste industrial materials namely, micro silica (MS) and fume treatment plant (FTP) dust by 20% of cement weight. The modified mixtures (c/s: 1:0) also showed reduced strength at the testing age. The compressive strength of the modified mixtures was reduced by 50% and 19% for the FTP and MS-modified mixtures, respectively. On the other hand, the flexural strength was reduced by 19.1 and 30.2% for the FTP and MS-modified mixtures. This reduction can help achieve certain strength requirements by lowering the cement content in cement concrete mixtures.

Adapting piezoelectric ring actuator for early hydration monitoring in cementitious materials

AbstractThere is a need for non‐destructive testing (NDT) methods to evaluate concrete properties in fresh and hardened states. The current study aims to utilize the piezoelectric ring actuator technique (P‐RAT), originally developed for soil applications, to assess the properties of cementitious materials. The research presents the adaptation of P‐RAT to monitor hydration kinetics of cement‐based materials at an early age. The technique measures shear wave velocity (VS) through the materials, offering insights into their behavior during the setting process. The methodology involves a new configuration for the sample holder and new ring dimensions adapted to obtain resonance frequency appropriate for evaluating the cementitious materials at an early age. The study includes an experimental evaluation of different cement paste and mortar mixtures—focusing on examining factors like repeatability, calibration, and ability to determine setting times using both P‐RAT in comparison to traditional methods like the Vicat needle test. The study demonstrates the feasibility of adapting the P‐RAT technique to measure VS along with its potential to provide valuable insights into the cement‐based materials' characteristics during their critical early stages of development.

Effects of Fly Ash and Graphene Oxide in Cement Mortar Considering the Local Recycled Material Context

Construction materials are at the forefront of global economic development as they provide the foundation for the infrastructure of other industries, with cementitious materials being predominantly used in construction projects. To promote sustainable development, alternative materials are added to cement mortar to increase durability and reduce emissions. In this regard, graphene oxide (GO) and fly ash (FA) are two alternative materials commonly used in cement mortar, which are readily available or are just the waste from other local material production. With different ratios, the amount of GO and FA can affect the properties of cement mortar positively or negatively. This study aims to determine the effects of GO and FA on cement mortar mixtures under material conditions. Research results show that 10 wt% FA and 0.036 wt% GO will give cement mortar the best physical and mechanical properties while ensuring other necessary properties, such as workability. When increasing FA to 30 wt% or GO to 0.05 wt%, the strength of the mortar mixture tends to decrease. Another issue is that the specific surface area of graphene is very high, which poses a significant challenge when uniform dispersion in the cement paste mixture is required. Polycarboxylate combined with a specific mixing sequence has demonstrated good dispersibility and high stability. Through this research, it is demonstrated that the addition of GO and FA has the potential for sustainable development of the construction industry by considering the contexts of the local recycled cementitious replacement materials.

Sludge-derived biochar as an additive in cement mortar: Mechanical strength and life cycle assessment (LCA)

Given the growing concern about environmental contamination risks, the management of sewage sludge (SS) from wastewater treatment plants is becoming more challenging. Thus, alternative pathways that offer value-added opportunities with minimal environmental impacts are needed. This study investigates the use of 0.52 wt% biochar (BC) powders generated from the pyrolysis of the SS in an N2 or CO2 environment, as an additive in cement mortar mixtures. The effect of dry and pre-wetted BC on the fresh properties, phase formation, compressive and tensile strength properties of cement mortar mixtures were assessed. Thereafter, life cycle assessment (LCA) of Plain and BC-modified mortar mixtures were evaluated, and the environmental impacts arising thereof were quantified. Results showed that whereas the BC had an infinitesimal effect on mix fresh properties, it caused approximately 1734% and 10–18% increases in compressive and tensile strength, respectively. Regardless of the pyrolysis condition, pre-wetted BC had a superior impact on mechanical strength evolution. LCA results showed that except for minor, net increases in particulate matter/water consumption potential, the rest of the impact categories associated with the production of 1 m3 of cement mortar decreased with the addition of the BC. In terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP) per unit 28d compressive strength, the BC-modified mixtures yielded values that were lower than that of the Plain mortar by about 1629%. Therefore, these research findings indicate that the use of SS-derived BC as a low-dose additive in cement composites could help the construction industry mitigate its negative environmental footprints.

Sustainable application of industrial side streams as alternative fine aggregates for cement mortar

Increase in industrialization has led to the production of huge volume of side-stream materials that need safe disposal solutions. The present study proposes the use of local industrial side streams such as ferrochrome slag, phyllite dust and mine tailings as secondary raw materials for construction, mainly as fine aggregates. Four different cement mortar mixtures, with a combination of selected side streams as a sole, binary, and ternary blends were investigated. Workability, strength, and durability properties of the derived mortar mixtures were compared with mortar produced using standard sand as reference. Mortar mixtures with a ternary blend of side-stream fine aggregates resulted in a compressive strength of 68–72 MPa at 28 days, which is 30–40% higher than that of control mix. The addition of industrial side streams resulted in a denser microstructure and enhanced the mechanical properties. The durability performance of the mortar with alternative fine aggregates is comparable with those of standard sand.

Influence of Chopped Carbon Fibers Addition with Different Curing Methods on the Mechanical Properties of Cement Mortar Performance

Sustainability is very important to keep industrial growth and human development going. Concrete is the largest manufacturing material in the world and includes cement as a key bonding agent for developing strength. This paper shows that the use of chopped carbon fiber to reinforce cementitious materials improved the mechanical properties characteristics of the mortar. also proposes appropriate curing conditions for the chosen mortar. The experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the mechanical properties of cement mortar, The study plan consists of four cement mortar mixtures with ratios include 0%, 0.25%, 0.5% and 1% of chopped carbon fiber volume fraction by weight % of cement using normal water for curing. The effects of four different methods of curing on the mechanical properties of cement mortar that have the best properties from adding chopped carbon fiber were investigated including the convectional curing. 1% carbon fibers showed the best improvement in the mortar strength.

Load Transferring Characteristics of Expanded Pile with Cement Mortar Mixture for Pipe Pile

Two kinds of interface shear force transmission models of expanded pile are introduced in combination with FRIC subroutine. ABAQUS is used to carry out numerical analysis to study the load transfer characteristics of expanded pile under vertical load. The results show: the load on the top of the pile is transmitted by the strong cohesive force between the pipe pile and the expanded interface. Under the vertical load, the axial stress of the pipe pile in the expanded pile gradually decreases with the increase of depth, and the axial stress of the expanded part increases first and then decreases with the depth. With the increase of pile length, pipe pile diameter or expansion thickness, the axial stress of pipe pile increases as a whole. With the increase of pile length, the axial stress of the expansion body increases gradually, and with the increase of pile diameter or expansion thickness, the axial stress of the expansion body decreases gradually. The axial stress of the pipe pile in the equal core part of the non-equal core expanded pile gradually decreases with the increase of depth, and the axial stress of the expanded body increases with the increase of the pile length.

Utilizing halloysite nanotube to enhance the properties of cement mortar subjected to freeze-thaw cycles

This study investigates the impact of the long-term pozzolanic properties of halloysite nanotube (HNT) on the physical and mechanical properties, permeability, durability, and microstructural characteristics of cement mortar subjected to repeated freeze-thaw cycles. For this purpose, the two-year cured samples were exposed to 300 freeze-thaw cycles. Deterioration of the cement mortar surface was visually assessed and regularly quantified by mass loss and length change. Furthermore, helium porosity, electrical resistivity, and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) were performed on cement mortar mixtures to elucidate the effect of repeated freeze-thaw cycles on permeability. In terms of mechanical properties, compressive and flexural strength tests were conducted; static elastic modulus and flexural toughness were also calculated. The frost durability of samples was analyzed using the relative dynamic modulus of elasticity and durability factor as the indexes to assess mortar's freeze-thaw resistance. Moreover, the microstructures of specimens before and after 300 freeze-thaw cycles were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. Visual comparisons and experimental results demonstrated that the HNT introduction in cement mortars markedly enhances the frost resistance of plain mortar. It leads to the refinement of the cement paste pore structure and a reduction in its porosity due to the nucleating, filling, and long-term pozzolanic effects of HNT. It was found that the contribution of HNT's pozzolanic activity is the most important of these mechanisms. Therefore, less water penetration into the hardened cement composites occurs, which results in higher frost durability. The samples containing 2 wt.% HNT (by weight of cement) exhibited the lowest mass loss, expansion, porosity, and UPV loss due to repeated freeze-thaw cycles. The highest electrical resistivity and residual mechanical strengths also pertained to samples with 2 wt.% HNT. Hence, the HNT replacement dosage of 2 wt.% can be regarded as an optimal content for the cement mortars studied in this work. Finally, the two-way ANOVA revealed that HNT percentage is the factor with the greatest impact on mass loss, electrical resistivity, and compressive strength. In terms of length change, porosity, and flexural strength, the freeze-thaw cycle was the most statistically important factor.

Waste Plastic and Rubber in Concrete and Cement Mortar: A Tertiary Literature Review

In recent years, the addition of plastic and rubber waste to construction materials has been widely studied by the research community. This great interest can mainly be attributed to the achievable potential environmental and economic benefits, mainly deriving from the reduction of incinerated or landfilled wastes and the decrease of used raw materials. Several reviews have been published on the addition of polymeric waste materials in concrete and cement mortar mixtures, discussing properties, environmental and cost implications. However, there are not available studies that organize and analyses the knowledge presented in this review. For the scope, in this paper we present a tertiary study of previous relevant review articles from peer-reviewed journals, with the aim to provide an overview of the state of the evidence related to this topic and to highlight the main critical aspects and open issues. The overview provides conclusions drawn from the 33 included reviews finding different open issues on the theme regarding environmental performance, cost savings and impacts on the supply chain as well as long term health problem related to the use of waste plastic and rubber in concrete and cement mortar. For each open issue further research proposals are also suggested.

Automotive Paint Sludge: A Review of Pretreatments and Recovery Options

Automotive paint sludge (PS) is the waste product generated in the painting process of vehicle bodies. Although automotive spray painting is an automated operation, its efficiency is still quite low, since approximately 40–50% of the employed paint does not reach the target and, after being mixed with the collecting water, becomes PS. PS is a very complex material that contains several organic and inorganic components, in addition to 90% water immediately after production. Italian automotive factories produce from 2.5 to 5.0 kg of PS per painted car. If that figure is related to the number of vehicles produced worldwide every year, in the order of 100 million, it determines an annual PS amount in the order of 200,000–500,000 t. Consequently, a proper final destination for PS must be found. The waste management hierarchy and the principles of the circular economy require that we privilege solutions that foresee the recovery of valuable products or energy. This paper first reviews the processes and the machines that have been recently developed to obtain an enhanced mechanical dewatering of PS. The pretreatment of PS dewatering is often crucial in order to obtain high efficiency in the subsequent recovery process. Afterwards, the paper presents and discusses the recovery options that have been proposed and tested, at different scales, by several authors in the last thirty years. The processes for PS management can be grouped as follows: (i) direct employment of physically/chemically treated PS in the production of primers and sealants; (ii) utilization of PS for the production of building materials, as supplementary components of cement concrete, mortar, or bituminous mixtures; (iii) extraction of valuable organic and inorganic products by using thermal processes (pyrolysis, gasification); (iv) biological processes for PS detoxification, metal recovery, and stabilization before landfilling.

Evaluation of the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Biopolymer-Based Cementitious Composites with Silver Nanoparticles

This study investigated the effects of using silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of cementitious composites. Ag NPs were synthesized with an ultrasonic irradiation method using konjac gum–polyethylene glycol (KG/PEG) and locust gum–polyethylene glycol (LG/PEG) and characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analyses. To identify the effect of the Ag NPs on the mechanical properties of mortar, four different cement mortar mixtures were prepared with varying percentages of Ag NPs (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% by weight). Clear improvements were observed in the 7- and 28-day compressive and flexural strengths of nanocomposites with Ag NPs. A thorough microstructure investigation using SEM, EDS, XRD, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was presented, and the relationship between microstructure and the mechanical properties of cementitious composites including Ag NPs was discussed.

Compressive Strength Evaluation of Cured Cement Mortar including Rubber, Foam, Plastic, and Paper Wastes as Partial Replacement with Sand

Waste materials pollution has instigated a serious environmental problem for decades, therefore new initiatives have been taken around the world to recycle wastes into construction materials in recent years. This study applied the compressive strength as one of the key parameters to examine the characteristics of materials, it was conducted to investigate the efficiency of adding different waste materials to cement mortar mixture as partial replacement with sand. Crumbed rubber, expanded polystyrene (foam), shredded wastepaper, and shredded plastic bags were selected to examine the efficiency of adding them to cement mortar. These waste materials were mixed individually with cement, sand and water proportionally. The produced mixture of each waste materials was casted in standard cubes and cured in water for different ages 3, 7 and 28 days. The compressive strength of the cured cubes was tested, the results showed that over all tested ages, plastic-based mortar provided the lowest compressive strength variance values by -7.4, -6.7%, and -5.4% in comparison with tested reference mortar. Rubber-based mortar showed the highest variance by -58.5 % at 3 days, -58.3% after 7 days and -55.5 % after 28 days. Foam comes next to Plastic-based mortar then Paper-based mortar by -13.7 & -37 % after 3 days, -11.3 & -34 % after 7 days and -14 & -26 % after 28 days respectively. In comparison to ASTM C129, the results ranges supported the possibility of using cement mortar mixed with shredded plastic, foam and shredded wastepaper in producing non-loadbearing concrete masonry units.

Compressive and Flexural Strength of High-Volume Fly Ash Mortars Aged with Air-entraining Admixtures

This paper presents the findings of an investigation into the compressive and flexural strength of various cement mortars containing very high levels of Class F fly ash (HVFA). A total of twelve cement mortar mixtures with constant water/powder ratios, cement, sand, and Air-Entraining Admixtures (AEA) were subjected to 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70% partial replacement of cement content with Fly Ash (HVFA) class F. The results of the tests show that the compressive and flexural strength decreased slowly as the fly ash content increased to up to 40%, but the strength values began to decrease dramatically with the addition of a higher amount of fly ash. According to the results, the best percentage of cement replacement with fly ash in mortar is 40%. It has 24% less compressive strength and 13% less flexural strength than 20% FA mortar. In general, the air-entraining admixture has no negative effect on the properties of the cement mortars. The measured properties of the hardened mortar are very satisfying.

Visible light-responsive photocatalytic-based sustainable construction material for environmental remediation

The present study proposes a unique idea of utilizing cementitious materials incorporating iron-rich industrial waste products (IWPs) to support nano-photocatalyst like Titanium dioxide (TiO2) to fabricate a visibly active Fe–TiO2 composite exhibiting antibacterial property. The novelty of the present study lies in formulating a natural doping concept over the conventional techniques to facilitate the photocatalytic properties of the proposed sustainable construction material. To assess the structural performance of the prepared cementitious material, i.e., cement mortar, different physical (porosity, water absorption, and density) and mechanical (compressive strength, flexural strength, and split tensile strength) properties were performed. The results show that the cement mortar mixture FB5F having 15% (10% FA and 5% BS) proportion of conventional cement performed better in terms of workability and durability than other mix designs. Also, the stability and potency of the Fe–TiO2 composite were analyzed using FESEM, EDS, elemental mapping, UV–vis DRS, and XRD. The characterization tests confirmed the iron-titanium (ITO) bond formation with shifting TiO2 from UV to visible light spectrum (Eg = 2.52 eV). The Fe–TiO2 composite was also subjected to an antibacterial check using an aliquot of E. coli bacterial suspension. The composite attained an E. Coli count of about 0.541 log reduction at the end of 45 min and thus, exhibited bacterial disinfection quality. Thus, the Fe–TiO2 composite material proposes an eco-friendly concept which satisfies the requirement for a sustainable and low carbon footprint future which can additionally be used to treat different indoor and outdoor organic contaminants.

Sulfate resistance of cement composites containing Nano-Fibrillated Cellulose (NFC)

In this study, the effect of Nano-Fibrillated Cellulose (NFC) on the sulfate resistance of cement composites was investigated. Plain and 0.5% steel fiber reinforced cement paste and mortar mixtures (FRM) modified with 0.1% NFC were evaluated. Changes in mass and tensile strength of specimens subjected to alternate immersion in 5% Na2SO4 solution and drying cycles were monitored for about six months. At the end of the test period, microstructural changes in cement pastes were analyzed via X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared – Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Mass change and tensile strength results showed that the sulfate attack resistance of the cement composites prepared with the 0.1% NFC was superior to that of the Plain mixture. XRD and FTIR-ATR analyses indicated reduced dissolution of portlandite and calcium aluminosilicate phases from the NFC-modified cement matrices. NMR results also showed that the transformation of monosulfate to ettringite, the decalcification of the C–S–H and polymerization of the silicate chains was lowest for cement pastes incorporating the NFC. Moreover, SEM imaging confirmed that the NFC and the steel fiber helped mitigate the propagation of cracks in cement pastes.

Recycling of Nano Silica Waste from Aluminum Fluoride Industry in Cement Mortar

The application of nanotechnology in cement mortar has added a new dimension to improving the mechanical performance of cementitious materials. Huge amounts of waste silica generated as a byproduct from aluminum fluoride industries poses heavy economic and environmental challenges. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of replacement of cement with waste nano-silicas (NS) on the characteristics of cement mortar mainly the compressive strength, flexural strength, workability, density, and heat of hydration. Cement was replaced with NS with percentage of (0.5,1,1.5,2,2.5%, 4, 6, 8, 10%), with a constant water-to-cement ratio (C/W) of 0.5. Depending on the obtained results, it has been observed that substitution of cement with NS has insignificant adverse impact on the characteristic of the mixture at low content of NS. Slight decrease (5.5%) in the compressive strength occurred at 7 days at low substitution percentage (0.5%), and 11.5% at 28 days. Flexure strength decreased by 23% and 55%, workability increased slightly by 1.33% and 6.8% at substitution percentage of 0.5%, and 2.5% respectively. Also, substitution resulted in significant reduction in the mortar weight up to 18.49% at substitution percentage of 10%, while insignificant impact on the hydration rate was observed for all substitution percentages. It can be concluded that recycling of waste NS in cement mortar mixture provided an attractive option to reduce the impact of waste on the environment, reduce cement consumption, reduce concrete weight, conserve natural resources and save the environment.

Mechanical, Swelling, and Thermal Properties of Geopolymer Mixture Containing Basic Oxygen Furnace Slag Aggregates

Basic oxygen furnace slag (BOFS) is a waste product generated during steel production. The utilization of BOFS in construction applications is considerably limited because of its inherent characteristics leading to volumetric expansion behavior caused by the chemical reaction between free lime (f-CaO) and water. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the material properties of normal mortar and geopolymer mixtures that contain BOFS aggregates. Three different aggregates were used to compare their performance, including siliceous river sand, fresh BOFS aggregate (within 1-month age), and stockpiled (more than 5-year age) BOFS aggregate. Test methods included a compressive strength test, accelerated mortar bar expansion test, and thermal conductivity test. Test results revealed that (1) geopolymer mixtures containing BOFS aggregate had comparable compressive strength with mortar mixture with river sand, (2) geopolymer mixtures have very low volume expansion, (3) thermal conductivity of geopolymer mixtures having both river sand and BOFS was lower than normal cement mortar mixture containing river sand. Therefore, geopolymer technology seems a key solution for converting BOFS slag into valuable construction materials. Therefore, a geopolymer mixture containing BOFS aggregate can be used as an energy-saving material.

The influence of palm oil fuel ash heat treatment on the strength activity, porosity, and water absorption of cement mortar.

The current study aims to explore the impact of palm oil fuel ash (POFA) heat treatment on the strength activity, porosity, and water absorption of cement mortar. The cement mortar mixtures were typically comprising cement or cement in combination with ultrafine treated POFA (u-TPOFA) which is the final form of thetreated POFA, sand, water, and a superplasticizer. Before utilizing the u-TPOFA in mortar mixtures, the treatment processes of POFA were undertaken via five steps (drying at 105 ℃, sieving, grinding, heat treatment, re-grinding) to form u-TPOFA. The heat treatment was performed at three different heating temperatures (i.e., 550 ℃, 600 ℃, and 650 ℃). The ratio on mass/mass basis of the blended ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with u-TPOFA was OPC:u-TPOFA of 70%:30%. A total of four mixtures were prepared, consisting of a plain control mixture (designated as PCM) and three mixtures containing 30% of u-TPOFA treated at three different temperatures designated as M1 "550 ℃," M2 "600 ℃," and M3 "650 ℃". The results show that the optimum mixture was M2 which achieved the highest strength activity index (SAI) of 101.84% and 107% among all mixtures at 7days and 28days, respectively. Meanwhile, the porosity (P%) and water absorption (Abs%) of M2 exhibited the lowest values of 9.3% and 4.5%, respectively, among all the mixtures at 28days. This superior performance of u-TPOFA treated at 600 ℃ represented in the M2 mixture was due to the formation of more binding phases consisting of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) type gel originated from a higher pozzolanic reaction and the filler effects caused by the fine u-TPOFA microparticles. These observations were further confirmed by the improved performance of the M2 mix among all the designed mixes which also exhibited better results in terms of bulk density (BD), ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), X-ray diffraction (XRD) as well asthermogravimetry (TGA) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM-EDX) analyses.

The effect of silica fume admixture on the compressive strength of the cellular lightweight concrete

Foam concrete has practical and economic advantages in construction, including reducing the structure's weight by building foundations. The market demand for foam concrete such as Cellular Lightweight Concrete (CLC) block has increased recently. One way to reduce the density of CLC is to add air pores to the cement paste or mortar mixture. However, the addition of pores can reduce the strength of lightweight bricks. Therefore, there is a need for innovation to improve the quality of CLC block by replacing some of the cement with other added materials. This study aims to obtain a good quality CLC block using silica fume to replace partial cement in a mortar mixture. The specimens are a CLC block measuring 10 cm wide, 20 cm high and 60 cm long. Variation of mortar mixture using silica fume percentage of 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 5%, 10% and 15% of cement weight. The output data generated from this sample are compressive strength, displacement, stress, strain and the modulus of elasticity. The test results obtained the optimum CLC compressive strength of 1.03 MPa at 10% silica fume composition. This optimum compressive strength of CLC was simulated using the LUSAS finite element analysis to obtain the displacement and stress-strain patterns. Based on the LUSAS numerical analysis, the optimum compressive strength of the CLC block was 1.06 MPa. This study shows that adding 10% silica to the CLC mortar mixture can increase the compressive strength by 81.25% compared to mortar without silica fume.

Effect of sodium sulfate activation on the early-age matrix strength and steel fiber bond in high volume fly ash (HVFA) cement mortar

Retarded hydration and delayed microstructure development could reduce the early-age mechanical performance of fiber reinforced, High Volume Fly Ash (HVFA) cement composites. In this study, the effects of the pH-neutral Sodium Sulfate (SS), as a chemical activator on the early-age matrix mechanical strength development and bond performance of a steel macrofiber in HVFA cement mortar mixtures were examined. Mortar mixtures containing 0–10% Silica Fume (SF), 30–40% Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and 4–6 wt% SS were tested. Specifically, changes in matrix compositional structure, mechanical strength, bond strength and absorbed energy of two End-deformed (ED) steel macrofiber were evaluated. The microstructure of the fiber–matrix Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) was also studied through Scanning Electron Microscopy-Backscattered Electron (SEM-BSE) imaging. Results showed that the SS accelerated pozzolanic reaction in HVFA mixtures, causing a rapid depletion of portlandite and a moderate enhancement of the 7th day mechanical strength properties. The positive influence of the SS increased considerably with respect to the pullout test whereby bond strength and pullout energy higher than those of the fiber embedded in 100% OPC (Mix 1) mortar were measured. SEM-BSE imaging showed that a denser fiber–matrix ITZ, a more efficient fine aggregate-fiber interlocking, and enhanced stress transfer from the cement paste to the solid inclusions in the matrix were responsible for the superior pullout performance of steel macrofiber embedded in SS-activated HVFA mortar mixtures. Based on these results, applications such as rigid pavements and repair overlays where accelerated deployment is an important consideration can be constructed using steel macrofiber reinforced HVFA cement mixtures.