Characterization of high-calcium fly ash and its influence on ettringite formation in portland cement pastes
Abstract
High-calcium Class C fly ashes derived from Powder River Basin coal are currently used as supplementary cementing materials in portland cement concrete. These fly ashes tend to contain significant amounts of sulfur, calcium, and aluminum, thus they are potential sources of ettringite. Characterization of six high-calcium fly ashes originating from Powder River Basin coal have been carried out. The hydration products formed in pastes made from fly ash and water were investigated. The principal phases produced at room temperature were ettringite, monosulfate, and strätlingite. The relative amounts formed varied with the specific fly ash. Removal of the soluble crystalline sulfur bearing minerals indicated that approximately a third of the sulfur is located in the fly ash glass. Pore solution analyses indicated that sulfur concentrations increased at later ages. Three fly ashes were selected for further study based on their ability to form ettringite. Portland cement-fly ash pastes made with the selected fly ashes were investigated to evaluate ettringite and monosulfate formation. Each of the fly ashes were mixed with four different types of portland cements (Type I, I/II, II, and III) as well as three different Type I cements exhibiting a range of C3A and sulfate contents. The pastes had 25% or 35% fly ash by total weight of solids and a water:cement-fly ash ratio of 0.45. The samples were placed in a curing room (R.H. = 100, 23°C) and were then analyzed at various ages by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to determine the principal hydration products. The hydration products identified by XRD were portlandite, ettringite (an AFt phase), monosulfate, and generally smaller amounts of hemicarboaluminate and monocarboaluminate (all AFm phases). Although the amount of ettringite formed varied with the individual cement, only a modest correlation with cement sulfate content and no correlation with cement C3A content was observed. DSC analyses showed that the cement-fly ash pastes generally formed less ettringite than the cement control pastes, but they formed more of the AFm phases (mainly monosulfate). It appears that the addition of high-calcium fly ash reduces the SO4/Al2O3 ratio in the system thus favoring Afm formation.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Olek, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Civil engineering|Materials science
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