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Effects of Adding Cement Admixtures on the Microstructure and Properties of Cement Materials

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction and Building Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2025 | Viewed by 6577

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ying Shi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Interests: recycle of industrial solid waste; cemented waste backfill; biological treatment of waste; MICP; detoxication of tailings
Dr. Hongwei Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Resources and Safety Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Interests: sustainable solid waste management; low-carbon and eco-friendly cement/binder; stabilization/solidification; eco-geotechnics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cement, as the most widely used construction material, is often influenced by the addition of various additives, which can greatly improve its performance. With the increasing interest in additives, there have been significant advancements in the hydration process and microstructure of cement.

Additives play a crucial role in the production and utilization of modern cement. They can be utilized to meet diverse requirements, such as enhancing the strength of cement and concrete, adjusting the setting time of cement, and controlling the water requirements of concrete. In addition to these performance benefits, additives also contribute to reducing production costs and minimizing adverse environmental impacts.

This Special Issue aims to gather research papers and review articles that address the challenges associated with the application of additives in cement and concrete materials. We welcome research papers focusing on numerical simulations of additives, as well as manuscripts presenting experimental verification.

Dr. Ying Shi
Dr. Hongwei Wang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • additives
  • cement
  • binder
  • strength
  • microstructure

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3592 KiB  
Article
Marginal Aggregates: The Role of Clays
by Arnon Bentur and Pavel Larianovsky
Materials 2024, 17(16), 4153; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17164153 - 22 Aug 2024
Viewed by 307
Abstract
Clays are components in the fine portion of aggregates, less than 75 microns in size (micro-fines), which are usually washed away when producing coarse or fine (manufactured sand) aggregates in quarries. When marginal sources of aggregates are being used, the content of this [...] Read more.
Clays are components in the fine portion of aggregates, less than 75 microns in size (micro-fines), which are usually washed away when producing coarse or fine (manufactured sand) aggregates in quarries. When marginal sources of aggregates are being used, the content of this washed portion can be quite high, and there is an incentive to keep as much of it in the aggregate, including the clays. The present paper presents a comprehensive treatment of the role of clays in terms of the characterization of their composition and quantification of their effects on the rheological and mechanical properties of cementitious systems, as well as the means to mitigate deleterious influences. It is shown that the strategy for neutralizing the effect of micro-fines containing clays on increased water demand in concrete can be quantified in terms of the combination of their content in concrete and their nature as characterized by the methylene blue value (MBV); this is a more rational approach to considering their influence than their content in specific aggregates as specified in standards. The effect of low and medium MBV aggregates on the water requirement can be neutralized by lignosulfonates when their content in the concrete is below a threshold value of about 150 kg/m3; polycarboxylates (PC) are required at higher contents; for high MBV aggregates, a combination of PC and clay mitigating admixture (CMA) is required. It is also demonstrated that with proper treatment, such micro-fines can be turned into useful fillers, enhancing the strength of concrete and thus also serving as a means for reducing cement content. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Adding Cement Admixtures on the Microstructure and Properties of Cement Materials)
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17 pages, 5617 KiB  
Article
Binary and Ternary Blended Portland Cements Containing Different Types of Rice Husk Ash
by Luis Miguel Ordoñez, María Victoria Borrachero, José Monzó, Lourdes Soriano and Jordi Payá
Materials 2024, 17(12), 2923; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17122923 - 14 Jun 2024
Viewed by 459
Abstract
Rice husk ash (RHA) is agricultural waste with high silica content that has exhibited proven technical feasibility as a pozzolanic material since the 1970s. Notwithstanding, its use in mortars and concrete is limited by the standards currently utilized in some countries where RHA [...] Read more.
Rice husk ash (RHA) is agricultural waste with high silica content that has exhibited proven technical feasibility as a pozzolanic material since the 1970s. Notwithstanding, its use in mortars and concrete is limited by the standards currently utilized in some countries where RHA production is high and the aforementioned pozzolanic material is not standardized. This is the case in Spain, one of the main rice producers in Europe. Nowadays, the high pressure placed on the Portland cement production sector to reduce its energy use and CO2 emissions has given rise to a keen interest in mineral admixtures for cement manufacturing. In this research, we intended to establish the contributions of different RHA types to the final blended Portland cement properties (“H” is used to identify RHA in standardized cements). The experimental results demonstrated that RHA with good pozzolanic properties (large specific surface and high amorphous silica content) had to be limited to 10% cement replacement because of the severe reduction in workability at higher replacement percentages. RHA with lower reactivity, such as crystalline RHA, or fly ash (FA) can be used to prepare binary and ternary blended cements with reactive RHA. It is possible to design the following cements: CEM II/A-H and CEM II/A-(H-V). It would also be possible to design cement (CEM II/B-(H-V) with replacement values of up to 30% and the same 28-day mechanical performance as observed for the Portland cement without mineral addition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Adding Cement Admixtures on the Microstructure and Properties of Cement Materials)
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19 pages, 4937 KiB  
Article
On the Flow of a Cement Suspension: The Effects of Nano-Silica and Fly Ash Particles
by Chengcheng Tao and Mehrdad Massoudi
Materials 2024, 17(7), 1504; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17071504 - 26 Mar 2024
Viewed by 896
Abstract
Additives such as nano-silica and fly ash are widely used in cement and concrete materials to improve the rheology of fresh cement and concrete and the performance of hardened materials and increase the sustainability of the cement and concrete industry by reducing the [...] Read more.
Additives such as nano-silica and fly ash are widely used in cement and concrete materials to improve the rheology of fresh cement and concrete and the performance of hardened materials and increase the sustainability of the cement and concrete industry by reducing the usage of Portland cement. Therefore, it is important to study the effect of these additives on the rheological behavior of fresh cement. In this paper, we study the pulsating Poiseuille flow of fresh cement in a horizontal pipe by considering two different additives and when they are combined (nano-silica, fly ash, combined nano-silica, and fly ash). To model the fresh cement suspension, we used a modified form of the power-law model to demonstrate the dependency of the cement viscosity on the shear rate and volume fraction of cement and the additive particles. The convection–diffusion equation was used to solve for the volume fraction. After solving the equations in the dimensionless forms, we conducted a parametric study to analyze the effects of nano-silica, fly ash, and combined nano-silica and fly ash additives on the velocity and volume fraction profiles of the cement suspension. According to the parametric study presented here, larger nano-silica content results in lower centerline velocity of the cement suspension and larger non-uniformity of the volume fraction. Compared to nano-silica, fly ash exhibits an opposite effect on the velocity. Larger fly ash content results in higher centerline velocity, while the effect of the fly ash on the volume fraction is not obvious. For cement suspension containing combined nano-silica and fly ash additives, nano-silica plays a dominant role in the flow behavior of the suspension. The findings of the study can help the design and operation of the pulsating flow of fresh cement mortars and concrete in the 3D printing industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Adding Cement Admixtures on the Microstructure and Properties of Cement Materials)
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18 pages, 6399 KiB  
Article
Preparation of Steel-Slag-Based Hydrotalcite and Its Adsorption Properties on Cl− and SO42−
by Zebo Dong, Bei Huang, Tao Zhang, Na Liu and Zhongyang Mao
Materials 2023, 16(23), 7402; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16237402 - 28 Nov 2023
Viewed by 961
Abstract
Large amounts of chloride ions (Cl−) and sulfate ions (SO42−) are present in salt-washing wastewater, making it unsuitable for direct release. Adsorption can be used to eliminate Cl− and SO42− from salt-washing wastewater, and hydrotalcite [...] Read more.
Large amounts of chloride ions (Cl−) and sulfate ions (SO42−) are present in salt-washing wastewater, making it unsuitable for direct release. Adsorption can be used to eliminate Cl− and SO42− from salt-washing wastewater, and hydrotalcite is an excellent adsorbent with high adsorption properties for these ions because of a layered bimetallic hydroxide structure. The selective extraction of various metals, such as calcium, magnesium, aluminum, and iron, from steel slag via acid leaching facilitates the utilization of steel slag in the preparation of hydrotalcite. In this study, the leaching mechanism of metal in steel slag was investigated using steel slag as a raw material and acetic acid as the reaction medium. The study obtained the optimal leaching mechanism for preparing hydrotalcite. Hydrotalcite was synthesized from the steel slag leaching solution by hydrothermal synthesis, and its structure was characterized. The adsorption performance of Cl− and SO42− in salt-washing wastewater was investigated by solution adsorption experiments. The removal rates of Cl− and SO42− in salt-washing wastewater reached 12.8% and 38.0%, respectively. After multiple adsorption cycles, the removal rates increased to 98.0% for Cl− and 96.4% for SO42−. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Adding Cement Admixtures on the Microstructure and Properties of Cement Materials)
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34 pages, 19055 KiB  
Article
Motion of Air Bubbles in a Cement Slurry
by N’dri Arthur Konan, Eilis Rosenbaum and Mehrdad Massoudi
Materials 2023, 16(19), 6433; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16196433 - 27 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1110
Abstract
The dynamics of air (gas) bubbles in a column of cement slurry is examined numerically. The air injected at the bottom of a laboratory-scale column through a porous distributor plate spatially distributes and migrates as a swarm of bubbles throughout the slurry toward [...] Read more.
The dynamics of air (gas) bubbles in a column of cement slurry is examined numerically. The air injected at the bottom of a laboratory-scale column through a porous distributor plate spatially distributes and migrates as a swarm of bubbles throughout the slurry toward the freeboard. The two-phase system of the cement slurry and the air bubbles is modeled using the conservation equations of mass and linear momentum in the framework of the volume-of-fluid (VOF) approach. The cement slurry is modeled using the Herschel–Bulkley and Bingham fluid models. Results show that the mean Sauter diameter and the mean rise velocity of the bubbles decrease with the gas flow rate. Meanwhile, it is found that the rising of the bubbles is controlled by breakup events, along with relatively weak path instabilities of the bubbles resulting in relatively straight trajectories, independent of the gas flow rate. The extent of the yielded region appears larger for the Herschel–Bulkley model compared to the Bingham fluid model (by approximately 10%). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Adding Cement Admixtures on the Microstructure and Properties of Cement Materials)
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21 pages, 6138 KiB  
Article
Recycling Local Waste Glass Bottles into Cement Paste: Effect on Hydration, Microstructure, and CO2 Emission
by Fengming Ren, Xiwen Zhang, Mingxin Lin, Qing Wang and Jing Sun
Materials 2023, 16(18), 6195; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16186195 - 13 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1174
Abstract
Large amounts of waste glass are generated along with the manufacturing of glass products, causing detrimental effects on the environment. Through crushing and ball-milling, waste glass powder (WGP) can be acquired from glass bottles and has been suggested in cementitious systems due to [...] Read more.
Large amounts of waste glass are generated along with the manufacturing of glass products, causing detrimental effects on the environment. Through crushing and ball-milling, waste glass powder (WGP) can be acquired from glass bottles and has been suggested in cementitious systems due to its potential pozzolanic activity. To better understand the impact of WGP on cementitious composites, experimental tests of rheology, heat of hydration, and strength development were conducted on cement pastes with and without WGP. Results show that the rheological performance of cement paste is improved when WGP with particles passing through 80 μm sieves is incorporated. The retarding effect and pozzolanic reaction were observed through X-ray diffraction patterns and thermo-gravimetric parameter analyses. A calcium hydroxide (CH) content calculation further confirms the secondary reactivity of WGP in cement pastes. Compared with the samples without WGP, the normalized CH content of binder per unit mass containing 35% WGP decreased by 21.01%, 24.94%, and 27.41% at the ages of 1, 28, and 90 days, respectively, which contributes to late-age strength development of pastes. At the same time, the hydration per unit of cement was increased by 21.53%, 15.48%, and 11.68%, which improved the cement efficiency. In addition, WGP particles provide nuclei for hydration products, facilitating the subsequent growth of C-S-H and strength development in late ages. Based on value engineering analysis, WGP was found to reduce the impact of Portland cement on the environment by 34.9% in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, indicating a bright prospect for WGP in the cement industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Adding Cement Admixtures on the Microstructure and Properties of Cement Materials)
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13 pages, 4395 KiB  
Article
Effect of Carbonation Treatment on the Properties of Steel Slag Aggregate
by Jian Ma, Guangjian Dai, Feifei Jiang, Ning Wang, Yufeng Zhao and Xiaodong Wang
Materials 2023, 16(17), 5768; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16175768 - 23 Aug 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1158
Abstract
Steel slag is the waste slag generated after steel smelting, which has cementitious activity. However, untreated steel slag can damage the integrity of steel slag concrete due to its harmful expansion. This study prepared porous aggregates by mixing powdered steel slag, fly ash, [...] Read more.
Steel slag is the waste slag generated after steel smelting, which has cementitious activity. However, untreated steel slag can damage the integrity of steel slag concrete due to its harmful expansion. This study prepared porous aggregates by mixing powdered steel slag, fly ash, and cement and carbonated them with CO2 under high pressure conditions (0.2 MPa). The effect of carbonation on the performance of steel slag aggregate was studied using volume stability and crushing value. The effect of different carbonation conditions on the products was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric (TG) analyses, and the carbon sequestration efficiency of steel slag under different treatment methods was quantitatively evaluated. The research results indicate that untreated steel slag was almost completely destroyed and lost its strength after autoclave curing. With the increase in temperature and carbonation time, the performance of steel slag aggregate gradually improved and the pulverization rate, expansion rate, and crushing value gradually decreased. According to the experimental results of XRD and TG, it was found that the reaction between f-CaO (free CaO) and CO2 in steel slag generated CaCO3, filling the pores inside the aggregate, which was the internal reason for the improvement of aggregate performance. After comparison, the best carbonation method was maintained at 55 °C for 72 h. After carbonation, the steel slag aggregate had a pulverization rate of 2.4%, an expansion rate of 0.23%, a crushing value of 23%, and a carbon sequestration efficiency of 11.27% per unit weight of aggregate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Adding Cement Admixtures on the Microstructure and Properties of Cement Materials)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Predicting the Compressive Strength of Sustainable Portland Cement-Fly Ash Mortar using Explainable Boosting Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Hongwei WANG; Yuanbo DING; Yu KONG; Daoyuan SUN; Ying SHI; Xin CAI
Affiliation: Central South University
Abstract: The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) is a critical property for assessing the engineering performance of sustainable materials, such as cement-fly ash mortar (CFAM), for the design of construction engineering projects. The experimental determination of UCS is time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, the present study aims to model the UCS of CFAM with boosting machine learning methods. First, an extensive database consisting of 395 experimental data points derived from the literature. Then, three typical boosting machine learning models were employed for modeling UCS based on the database, including Gradient Boosting Regressor (GBR), Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LGBM), and Ada-Boost Regressor (ABR). Additionally, the importance of different input parameters was quantify analyzed by using the SHapley Additive exPlainations (SHAP) approach. Finally, the best-boosting machine learning model's prediction accuracy was compared to ten other commonly used machine learning models. The results indicate that the GBR model outperforms the LGBM and ABR models in predicting the UCS of CFAM. The GBR model demonstrated significant accuracy, with no significant difference between the measured and predicted UCS values. The SHAP interpretations revealed that curing time (T) is the most critical feature influencing UCS values. At the same time, the chemical composition of fly ash, particularly Al2O3, was more influential than fly ash dosage (FAD) or water-to-binder ratio (W/B) in determining UCS values. Overall, this study demonstrates that SHAP-boosting machine learning technology can be a useful tool for modelling and predicting UCS values of CFAM with good accuracy. It also could be helpful for CFAM design by saving time and costs on experimental tests.

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