• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.365-371
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• 2020

In this study, in order to recycle the stems of opuntia cactus discarded after harvesting the fruit, the cactus stems were powdered and applied as a cement-based admixture. The powder of cactus stem was mixed into the mortar, and its effect on the fresh properties and strength of the mortar was studied. The results were compared with the properties of mortars produced by mixing with a retarder sugar and a viscosity agent methyl-cellulose, which are conventional saccharide-based admixtures. Based on the test results, the cactus stem powder did not clearly show the effect as a retarding agent, whereas the flow and the air content were similar to those of the mortar mixed with methyl-cellulose. This indicated that the cactus stem powder can be used as a viscosity agent. It was found that the strength of the mortar tended to increase when the mixing ratio of the cactus stem powder was lower than 0.3%.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.489-495
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• 2020

Whereas the control of the hydration heat in mass concrete has been important as the concrete structures enlarge, many conventional strategies show some limitations in their effectiveness and practicality. Therefore, In this study, as a solution of controling the heat of hydration of mass concrete, a method to reduce the heat of hydration by controlling the hardening of cement was examined. The reduction of the hydration heat by the developed Phosphate Inorganic Salt was basically verified in the insulated boxes filled with binder paste or concrete mixture. That is, the effects of the Phosphate Inorganic Salt on the hydration heat, flow or slump, and compressive strength were analyzed in binary and ternary blended cement which is generally used for low heat. As a result, the internal maximum temperature rise induced by the hydration heat was decreased by 9.5~10.6% and 10.1~11.7% for binder paste and concrete mixed with the Phosphate Inorganic Salt, respectively. Besides, the delay of the time corresponding to the peak temperature was apparently observed, which is beneficial to the emission of the internal hydration heat in real structures. The Phosphate Inorganic Salt that was developed and verified by a series of the aforementioned experiments showed better performance than the existing ones in terms of the control of the hydration heat and other performance. It can be used for the purpose of hydration heat of mass concrete in the future.