Effect of calcium hydroxide on fresh state behavior of sodium carbonate activated blast furnace slag pastes

Abstract This study represents the fresh state behavior of Na 2 CO 3 -activated ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) pastes. Sodium carbonate (NC) is a suitable activator, though with an extended setting time. To accelerate the hydration process, NC was replaced with sodium hydroxide (NH), then, slaked lime (CH) was used as a carbonate binding agent. This replacement improved the rheological properties, but increased the setting time. The use of 3% CH with GGBS caused a significant decrease in setting time, enabled to set within 6.5 h. The decrement was attributed to the removal of a large amount of dissolved carbonate ions from the fresh state pastes. The NH replacement did not effectively enhance the fresh properties. In the pore solution, the CO 3 2− ion concentration is one of the major parameter that affects the reaction besides other ions released from raw material.