• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2015

In this paper, the effects of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and aluminum potassium sulfate ($AlK(SO_4)_2{\cdot}12H_2O$) dosage on strength properties were investigated. For evaluating the property related to the dosage of alkali activator, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) of 4% (N1 series) and 8% (N2 series) was added to 1~5% (K1~K5) dosage of aluminum potassium sulfate ($AlK(SO_4)_2{\cdot}12H_2O$) and 1% (C1) and 2% (C2) dosage of calcium oxide (CaO). W/B ratio was 0.5 and binder/ fine aggregate ratio was 0.5, respectively. Test result clearly showed that the compressive strength development of alkali-activated slag cement (AASC) mortars were significantly dependent on the dosage of NaOH and $AlK(SO_4)_2{\cdot}12H_2O$. The result of XRD analysis indicated that the main hydration product of $NaOH+AlK (SO_4)_2{\cdot}12H_2O$ activated slag was ettringite and CSH. But at early ages, ettringite and sulfate coated the surface of unhydrated slag grains and inhibited the hydration reaction of slag in high dosage of $NaOH+AlK(SO_4)_2{\cdot}12H_2O$. The $SO_4{^{-2}}$ ions from $AlK(SO_4)_2{\cdot}12H_2O$ reacts with CaO in blast furnace slag or added CaO to form gypsum ($CaSO_4{\cdot}2H_2O$), which reacts with CaO and $Al_2O_3$ to from ettringite in $NaOH+AlK(SO_4)_2{\cdot}12H_2O$ activated slag cement system. Therefore, blast furnace slag can be activated by $NaOH+AlK(SO_4)_2{\cdot}12H_2O$.