Design and experimental study of a ternary blended cement containing high volume steel slag and blast-furnace slag based on Fuller distribution model

Abstract To improve the utilization efficiency and application property of smelting solid waste in blended cement, a ternary blended cement (Fuller-SS-S-C binder) containing high volume steel slag (SS) and granulated blast-furnace slag (GBFS or S) was designed and prepared based on Fuller distribution model. The results show that the cumulative distribution of Fuller-SS-S-C binder particles is close to Fuller distribution as a whole, but the particles of 0–15 μm, 15–30 μm, 30–45 μm and 45–80 μm fractions are SS-S-C (composite powder containing SS, S and cement), C (cement), SS-S (composite powder containing SS and S) and SS, respectively. The properties of Fuller-SS-S-C binder can be adjusted by changing compositions of SS-S-C in the range of 0–15 μm. Fuller-SS-S-C binders prepared have higher strength than reference blended cement, and their hydration heat contain three exothermic peaks and concentrate on after 15 hours. Compared with pure cement, the non-evaporable water content of Fuller-SS-S-C binder has great gap, but the pore size distribution of Fuller-SS-S-C binder is dominated by innocuous pores of less than 20 nm, moreover, the porosity, total pore volume and medium pore diameter of Fuller-SS-S-C binder are lower than those of reference blended cement and pure cement, indicating that Fuller-SS-S-C binder has dense microstructure.