Studying the Increase in Portland Cement Quality Based on the Activated Micro-Silica

In this paper, in order to reduce the consumption of cement, which is considered important for the construction industry, and to increase its strength, we added 10% of the cement mass by activating the micro silica produced as a secondary product in the production of ferrosilicon alloys. Activation of micro silica in the presence of 10% triethanolamine at a temperature of 60 ºC for 180 minutes is indicated as an optimal condition. In order to study the effect of activated microsilica on the strength of the cement sample, conventional cement and non-activated microsilica cement samples were compared. In addition to activated microsilica, calcium lactate and a new polycarboxylate superplasticizer were used. As a result of the hydration of C2S and C3S in cement, the formation of slightly weak Ca(OH)2 crystals and its pozzolanic reaction with active microsilica, the good progress of secondary hydration, and the formation of CSHs were studied. Compressive strength was studied in 2, 7, and 28-day samples. Also, in order to study the microstructure, amount of elements, and thermal stability of the obtained samples, the samples were studied and compared using different analytical methods: IR spectroscopic, SEM, elemental analysis, x-ray diffractometry and thermogravimetric analysis TGA methods. It was determined that the cement sample with activated microsilica is 23.7% stronger than the conventional SEM II/A-I 32.5N cement sample and 30.1% compared to the cement sample with non-activated microsilica.