Date of Award

6-2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Material Science Engineering (MSMatSE)

Department

Materials Science

First Advisor

Dr. Yousef Haik

Second Advisor

Dr. Abdullah Al Shamsi

Third Advisor

Dr. Salim Al Oraimi

Abstract

Heat of hydration of Portland cement mixes is of great importance to civil engineers. While there is great deal of work being carried out on the hydration temperature of OPC-slag mixes, there is a lack in the literature of research work on the effect of such materials in real hot climates. The current research examines the influence of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (ggbs) as a partial cement replacement on temperature evolution during hydration in winter and summer in AI-Ain (interior region of the United Arab Emirates). Evolution of temperature inside the concrete was recorded by the aid of a Labview Program. A testing setup was developed to provide a continuous recording of temperature inside cement mixes by means of a computer, digital voltmeter and thermocouples. Concrete was prepared to study the effect of sample size and ggbs inclusion on the hydration temperature of cement mixes. Three concrete mixes of a similar cement content (450 kg/m3) were tested. A plain ordinary Portland cement (OPC), a 50% OPC with 50 % ggbs; 25% OPC with 75% ggbs mixes were prepared. Also, 8% microsilica was added to all of these three mixes. The water-cement ratio was kept constant for all pastes. Cement type was determined to have a significant effect on the rate of rise in hydration temperature. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag (ggbs) reduced the temperature rise rate in all mixes and in all environments. Ggbs significantly increased the time needed to reach the peak temperature and it also reduced such peaks. Ggbs clearly reduced the differential change in temperature (difference between initial mix temperature and peak temperature) compared with plain OPC mixtures. Moreover, results indicated that the higher the ambient temperature, the faster the hydration rates and the shorter the time needed to reach these peaks. Also, the peak temperature within cubic samples was higher as sample size was increased.

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