Influence of Sodium Oxide on Properties of Fresh and Hardened Paste of Alkali Activated Blast Furnace Slag

The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of sodium oxide on properties of fresh and hardened paste of alkali activated blast furnace slag from Isfahan steel plant. The silica modulus (SiO2/Na2O) of activator was adjusted at 0.6 and a number of mixes were designed in such a way to contain different levels of sodium oxide including 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6% by weight of dry slag. The most important physico mechanical properties of the pastes including workability, initial and final setting times, 28 day compressive strength and efflorescence severity were measured. Suitable mixes were chosen for more studies including compressive strength at different ages, 90 day autogenous and drying shrinkages. According to the results, increasing the sodium oxide content of the mixes results in increased workability, reduced setting times, and higher compressive strength. The results confirm the possibility of achieving 28 day compressive strengths up to 27.5, 50.0 and 70.0 MPa for mixes with sodium oxide content of 1, 2 and 3 wt% respectively. The measured values for autogenous shrinkage were all less than 0.1% and SEM studies showed a significant decrease in pore sizes with increasing sodium oxide concentration from 1 to 2%.