Limestone-calcined clay-Cement (LC3) concrete provides a solution for sustainability, durability, and profitability of concrete industry. This study shows experimental studies of the macro properties (residual compressive strength), the meso properties (mesoscopic images), and micro properties (thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), FTIR spectra, Raman spectra, Mercury intrusion porosimetry, and SEM) of LC3 paste with various mixtures and at high elevated temperatures (20 ℃, 300 ℃, 550 ℃ and 900 ℃). We find (1) Regarding to macro properties, LC3 cementitious materials are at a disadvantage in compressive strength when the temperature is higher than 300 ℃. (2) Regarding to meso properties, when the temperature reached 550 ℃, all samples generated more meso cracks. (3) Regarding to micro properties, first, as the substitution amount increases, its CH content decreases significantly; second, at 900 ℃, for samples with calcined clay, a large amount of gehlenite crystalline phase was found; third, at elevated temperatures (20 ℃, 300 ℃, 550 ℃ and 900 ℃), there is a linear relationship between the residual compressive strength and the cumulative pore volume; fourth, at 900 ℃, a large amount of dicalcium silicate was generated, and damage cracks were more pronounced. The experimental results of this study are valuable of material design of fire resistance of LC3 concrete.
This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (No. 2015R1A5A1037548), and an NRF grant (NRF-2020R1A2C4002093).