Hydration, Setting and Crack-Resistance Properties of Activated HVFACs at Early Stages

In order to develop a simple and effective activation method of low calcium fly ash concrete (FAC) and to understand their basic properties, the present paper experimentally investigates the influences of the volume of fly ash (FA), the dosage of the activator (AC) and the water to binder ratio (w/b) on the hydration, setting times and the crack-resistance properties of activated FACs. Results verify that increasing FA can effectively reduce the hydration heat of the FA-cement system and increase the setting time of FACs, as well as indicate that FA can delay the occurrence of the initial crack and reduce the maximum width and total area of cracks in these concretes through a new quantitative test. The curing time of concrete affects the hydration heat of FA paste with/without AC. When the curing time of FAC increases, the decrease in amplitude of hydration heat reduces gradually. Additionally, it was found that the used ACs can effectively stimulate the activity of FA in Portland cement (PC) systems, which reduces their setting time slightly. However, high dosages of ACs also accelerate the development of early cracks in the FACs, as well. According to the study, the combined activator (10% CaO + 1.5% Na2SO4) was suggested as the most effective way to promote FA-PC concrete for obtaining acceptable properties at early stages. Besides, the existing calculation model for predicting the setting times of FACs was examined and modified to be more suitable to FACs activated by 10% CaO + 1.5% Na2SO4. The proposed model was verified and can evaluate the experimental results well.