Development of properties of Portland cement-slag-siliceous fly ash mixtures in relation to their composition

The cement mixtures used in the studies were prepared by partial replacing of Portland cement CEM I 42.5R with a mixture of blast furnace slag and siliceous fly ash. The purpose of the study is to verify the properties of the ternary cements included in the PN-EN 197-5:2021 standard as CEM II/C-M and CEM VI cements. Their hydration heat, compressive strength, phase composition and microstructure were studied. The higher blast furnace slag content results in a greater reduction in the rate of hydration heat evolution and cumulative hydration heat evolved and lower and delayed effects related to Ca(OH)2 and alkalis presence. More blast furnace slag gives a cement mixture of the lower strength class according to the PN-EN 197-1:2012 standard. With the addition of 50 % blast furnace slag, none of the strength classes is achieved. Strength reduction may be due to the discontinuity in microstructure observed in SEM studies.