Multi-year cementitious hydrate product formation in non-Portland high performance concretes

This paper describes the hydration products and microstructural formation processes that yield excellent mechanical properties in “zero-cement concretes” (ZCC) produced by chemical activation of a blend of silica fume, blast furnace slag, and fly ash, using a CaO-rich additive (commercially supplied as an expansive agent but taking a chemical activation role here), a high superplasticizer dose, and a very low water content. These concretes reach 70 MPa at 28 days and then continue to gain strength beyond 150 MPa after 5 years, either under sealed conditions or exposed on a rooftop in the climate of Tokyo, Japan. The reaction products of ZCC are dominated by C-A-S-H gel, accompanied by aluminate hydrates of different layered double hydroxide forms; this unconventional cementitious blend yields reaction products that are familiar from Portland cement and blended binder systems. The ferronickel slag used as fine aggregate in these mixes makes an important contribution to the balance of fresh-state and hardened-state properties by modifying hydration chemistry.