The majority of cement available worldwide includes supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) as a mineral additive to improve mechanical and durability properties of cement. The alkalinity of the concrete made using such cements is less as SCMs consume the calcium hydroxide produced on clinker hydration by the pozzolanic reaction. Quantity of calcium hydroxide available in the system is one of the major factors influencing carbonation resistance of the system. Numerous carbonation models are available which take the quantity of calcium hydroxide as input and predicts the carbonation depth. In blended systems, insignificant or very small amount of calcium hydroxide is present and hence prediction of carbonation depth using existing models becomes difficult. In this study, a new approach has been developed to predict carbonation depth in concrete made using blended cement based on total reserve alkalinity of the system along with other factors. The carbonation depth predicted by the above approach is in close relation with experimental data.
展开▼
