Factors Affecting the Setting Time and Compressive Strength of Alkali Activated Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag Reinforced with Wollastonite
Valeria A. Gonzalez1, Benjamin Varela2, Joseph Voelkel3

1Valeria Gonzalez, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Kate Gleason College of Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY, USA.
2Benjamin Varela, Department of Mechanical Engineering,  Kate Gleason College of Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA.
3Joseph Voelkel, Center Quality and Applied Statistics, Kate Gleason College of Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA
Manuscript received on 11 March 2014 | Revised Manuscript received on 20 March 2014 | Manuscript Published on 30 March 2014 | PP: 23-28 | Volume-3 Issue-10, March 2014 | Retrieval Number: J15190331014/14©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: We conducted a Design of Experiments to analyze and optimize the effect of the SiO2/K2O , H2O/K2O molar ratios of a Potassium base activating solution, slag/solution, Wollastonite/Slag mass ratios and mixing amount in the compressive strength and setting time of alkali activated Ground granulated Blast Furnace Slag. It was found that the total amount mixed had little to no effect in the compressive strength and the setting time. The setting time was largely affected by the slag/solution mass ratio followed by the SiO2/K2O molar ratio in the activating solution. For the compressive strength the larges correlation was found in the joint effect of the slag/solution and Wollastonite/slag mass ratios. The optimum formulation had seventh day compressive strength of 8000 Psi (55 Mpa) and setting time of 36 minutes was found when the activating solution had molar ratios of SiO2/K2O =1, H2O/K2O =10 and mass ratios of slag/solution = 1.75 and Wollastonite/Slag=0.37.
Keywords: Geopolymers, Alkali Activation, Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag, Non-Traditional Cements, Wollastonite, Design Of Experiments.

Scope of the Article: Mechanical Design