Mechanical properties of alkali-activated materials based on blast furnace slag and calcium sulphate dihdyrate

Abstract

Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) are currently under research for providing opportunities for re-use of industrial residue streams in the construction sector. Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), an excellent precursor for AAMs, is used in a wide range of applications, in which some of these contain a significant amount of sulphate (e.g. flue gas desulfurisation gypsum). For this reason, GGBFS-based AAMs serve here as a test matrix in order to allow the incorporation of sulphate-rich residues, aiming to investigate the influence of curing temperature on the mechanical properties of AAMs, focussing solely on pastes based on GGBFS and calcium sulphate dihydrate (CS).