| Popis: |
Alkali-activated cement (AAC) has excellent mechanical and durability properties. Most of all, AAC is environmentally friendly and utilizes less raw material than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). It has been 60 years since the initial appearance of AAC in the research world. Since then, the knowledge has matured from the various research conducted in the area. Studies have shown that the shrinkage of AAC is relatively large compared to OPC, making it susceptible to cracking. For AAC to be an ideal replacement for OPC, its shrinkage behavior and factors affecting it need to be investigated in detail. This paper studies the effect of alkaline solid to binder ratio (AS/B), sodium silicate to sodium hydroxide solids ratio (SS/SH), and total water to total solid binder ratio (TW/TS) on the shrinkage. The results showed that TW/TS is the main factor affecting the shrinkage of AAC. An increase in TW/TS reduced the shrinkage significantly. AS/B also reduced the shrinkage but at a lower significance. SS/SH ratio showed no significant effect. Such understandings of the different factors affecting the shrinkage of AAC can help design a mixture with a better shrinkage behavior. |
