Materials and Structures (2013) 46:327–336
DOI 10.1617/s11527-012-9904-4
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Selective dissolution and cementitious property evaluation
of converter steel slag
Zaibo Li • Sanyin Zhao • Xuguang Zhao •
Tusheng He • Meifeng Yan
Received: 31 January 2012 / Accepted: 25 June 2012 / Published online: 13 July 2012
Ó RILEM 2012
Abstract High-efficiency recovery and utilization of
steel slag are important concerns for environmental
protection and sustainable development. To establish a
method for rapid evaluation of cementitious property of
steel slag, selective dissolution tests of converter steel
slag were performed in a compound solution consist-
ing of acetone, salicylic acid, and methanol. Feasible
experimental conditions, repeatability and mechanism,
were investigated. The relationship between selective
dissolution behavior and cementitious property (repre-
sented as mortar compressive strength) was analyzed.
The compound solution selectively dissolved calcium
silicate minerals in steel slag satisfactorily and most of
the mass fraction of (CaO ? SiO2) to the total dis-
solved matter from steel slag is as high as 94 to 98 %.
The dissolution experiment had good repeatability. A
significant linear relationship between the mass per-
centage of the dissolved matter from steel slag and the
mortar compressive strength increment of the cemen-
titious material prepared from reference cement and
steel slag was observed. The linear correlation coeffi-
cient was more than 0.99. Therefore, selective disso-
lution in a compound solution can be used for rapidly
predicting the cementitious property of converter steel
slag.
Z. Li
S. Zhao (&)
X. Zhao
T. He
M. Yan
School of Chemistry and Environment Engineering,
Shaoguan University, Shaoguan 512005,
People’s Republic of China
e-mail: zsy_sgu@163.com
Keywords Steel slag
Cementitious property
evaluation
Dissolution
Utilization
1 Introduction
It is well known that cement industry is a high energy
consumption industry and its CO2 emission accounts for
about 7 % of global CO2 emissions. In 2011, about 2.2
billion tons of cement was produced worldwide. It is very
advantageous to use mineral admixture, especially steel
slag, as partial substitutes for cement to reduce the cement
consumption [18]. Steel slag is the residual waste of steel
production process, being from either the conversion
process of iron to steel in a basic oxygen furnace(BOF), or
the melting of scrap to make steel in an electric arc
furnace (EAF), and the amount of which is about
10–15 % of the steel yield [5]. Today nearly 100 million
tons of steel slag is discharged every year in China alone.
Many studies showed that steel slag can be used as
supplementary cementitious materials of high properties
in cement and concrete [3, 11, 13, 15]. The common
minerals in steel slag are olivine, merwinite, alite, belite,
calcium aluminio-ferrite, calcium ferrite, RO phase
(CaO–FeO–MnO–MgO solid solution) and free-CaO
[4]. The presence of alite, belite, calcium aluminio-ferrite
and calcium ferrite endorses steel slag hydraulic proper-
ties. Generally, cement blending with steel slag has longer
setting time and lower early strength compared with
Portland cement, and sometimes causes much vol-
ume expansion due to its high content of dead-burned
328 Materials and Structures (2013) 46:327–336

free-CaO. Owing to the above disadvantages and the
pollution problems of heavy metals, the utilization ratio of
steel slag in cement and concrete is very low.
The cementitious property of steel slag from different
sources varies significantly due to the differences of raw
material sources, steelmaking process and chemical
composition of steel slag [9, 10, 12, 19, 20]. As a result of
the large fluctuation of cementitious activity of steel slag,
it is difficulty to control the quality of industrial product
based mainly on steel slag powder. Presently, researches
on the evaluations of cementitious property of steel slag
are generally based on strength ratio [14], correlation of
composition parameter [16], accelerated chemical
method [8], volume expansion tests [17], microscopic
analysis [1] and leach of steel slag components [6].
However, such methods yield poor accuracy or require
lengthy testing periods to complete, rendering them
impractical for wide-scale use. Thus, a rapid and highly
accurate method for evaluating the cementitious proper-
ties of steel slag must be developed. On the basis of the
research of Luke et al. [7], the present study presents a
method for selective dissolution of steel slag in salicylic
acid–methanol–acetone (SAMA) solution. Moreover,
the present study further establishes the relationship
between dissolution characteristics of converter steel
slag in SAMA solution and strength properties of
cementitious material based mainly on steel slag.
2 Materials and experiment
2.1 Materials
Seven kinds of converter steel slags (BOF slag),
named SS-1# to SS-7# respectively, were collected
from different sources in China and used in this study.
The slags came from Shaogang Iron and Steel Group
Co. Ltd. (Guangdong province), Baosteel Group Corp.
(Shanghai), Jigang Group Co. Ltd. (Shandong prov-
ince), Handan Iron and Steel Group Co. Ltd. (Hebei
province), Liuzhou Iron and Steel Group Co. Ltd.
(Guangxi province), and Ma’anshan Group Co. Ltd.
(Anhui province). Reference cement with 42.5 grade
produced by Xingfa Cement Co. Ltd. (Beijing) was
also used in this study. The chemical compositions and
densities of the reference cement and steel slag
powders are listed in Table 1. It is showed that the
chemical compositions of steel slags vary greatly with
the raw materials sources and process used. For
instance, the content of Al2O3 in SS-7# is close to
28 % while other kinds of steel slags fall within the
range of 1–5 %. The density of SS-3# is the highest
due to its high content of Fe.
2.2 Experimental methods
2.2.1 Selective dissolution test
SAMA solution was prepared by mixing salicylic acid,
methanol and acetone, which the volume ratio of
methanol and acetone was 30:70 and salicylic acid
concentration was 50 mg ml-1. Dried to constant
weight at 105 °C, the powder sample (2 g, accurate to
0.0001 g) was dissolved in 200 ml SAMA solution
using a powerful electric stirring mixer at 500 rad/min
to the required time at 20 °C. The mixture was then
filtered using a Büchner funnel filter apparatus with
quantitative analysis filter paper and a sintered disc
filter apparatus with a membrane of 0.20 lm pore size.
The filtration residue was washed several times with

Table 1 Chemical composition and density of reference cement and steel slag powders
Sample Chemical composition (wt%) Density (kg m-3)
CaO SiO2 Al2O3 TFe MgO SO3 MnO f-CaO Loss

Reference cement 63.11 23.52 4.48 3.04 1.28 2.87 0.00 0.36 0.96 3140
SS-1# 49.11 18.18 1.05 16.18 6.74 0.48 2.79 4.34 1.84 3270
SS-2# 40.01 18.94 2.91 23.57 5.36 0.35 2.79 2.79 0.04 3300
SS-3# 41.06 11.51 1.57 32.71 8.09 0.08 0.42 2.61 0.81 3610
SS-4# 44.53 14.84 3.19 22.15 7.50 0.36 0.17 0.73 2.39 3430
SS-5# 45.11 14.99 5.06 20.96 6.69 0.40 1.68 2.88 2.24 3390
SS-6# 38.90 17.12 4.58 21.31 6.99 0.38 3.10 3.43 4.76 3240
SS-7# 41.64 7.88 27.99 5.66 9.58 1.07 0.20 1.00 4.30 2980
Materials and Structures (2013) 46:327–336 329

anhydrous methanol, and then dried to constant weight
at 105 °C.
2.2.2 Chemical composition analysis
The dissolved matter quantity from powder sample in the
SAMA solution was determined based on the quantity of
the filtration residue. After evaporation and burning, the
chemical composition of the filtrate, CaO and SiO2,
was analyzed by EDTA complexometry (according to
Chinese National Standard GB/T 5069-2007 Complexo-
metric titration method for determination of calcium
oxide and magnesium oxide content) and potassium
fluorosilicate volumetric analysis (according to Chinese
National Standard GB/T 19421-2008 Potassium fluosi-
licate volumetric methods for determination of silica
dioxide content), respectively.
2.2.3 Mineral composition analysis and microscopic
morphology analysis
XRD analysis was done using D/Max-III-type auto-
matic X-ray diffractometer (Rigaku Electric Machin-
ery Corporation, Japan). The testing conditions were
as follows: Cu target, graphite filter, tube voltage of
30 kV, current of 30 mA, scanning speed of 12°/min,
and scanning range of 10°–80°. The microstructures of
the samples were analyzed by an XL-30 scanning
electron microscope (Philips, Netherlands) with a
resolution of 0.35 nm and an accelerating voltage of
0–30 kV. Micro-area compositions were determined
by X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS,
Thermo NORAN Vantage).
2.2.4 Preparation of mortars
Cement mortar prisms of 40 9 40 9 160 mm were
prepared for strength measurements according to
Chinese National Standard GB/T 17671-1999 Method
of Testing Cements: Determination of Strength and GB/
T 20491-2006 Steel Slag Powder Used for Cement and
Concrete. The ratio of binder to sand was 1:3. The ratio
of water to binder was 1:2. The ratio of cement to steel
slag was 70:30. After demoulding, the specimens were
cured in water at 20 ± 2 °C. Strength measurements
were carried out after 7, 28, and 90 days of curing.
3 Experimental results and analysis
3.1 Effect of dissolving conditions
on the dissolved matter quantity
The effect of salicylic acid concentration (factor A),
solvent volume (factor B), and dissolving time (factor
C) on the dissolved matter quantity from SS-4# and
SS-5# powders, with a Blaine specific surface area of
400 m2 kg-1, was investigated through an L9 (34)
orthogonal experiment. F test was adopted to deter-
minate the significance of effect of dissolving condi-
tions on dissolution experiment. The orthogonal
experimental design and experimental results are
shown in Table 2. The variance analysis results are
shown in Table 3.
Comparing the values of Fi with Fcritical (F0.05 or
F0.01), it can be seen that salicylic acid concentration
(factor A) and solvent volume (factor B) has no

Table 2 Effect of dissolving conditions on the dissolved matter quantity from steel slag
Test number A B C D Dissolved matter quantity from steel slag (mg)
Salicylic acid Solvent Dissolving Error SS-4# SS-5#
concentration (mg ml-1) volume (ml) time (min) column

1 25 (level 1) 200 (level 1) 30 (level 1) Level 1 712.2 628.7

2 25 (level 1) 250 (level 2) 60 (level 2) Level 2 793.7 778.4
3 25 (level 1) 300 (level 3) 120 (level 3) Level 3 869.9 849.8
4 50 (level 2) 200 (level 1) 60 (level 2) Level 3 826.0 804.9
5 50 (level 2) 250 (level 2) 120 (level 3) Level 1 802.7 810.2
6 50 (level 2) 300 (level 3) 30 (level 1) Level 2 714.9 714.8
7 75 (level 3) 200 (level 1) 120 (level 3) Level 2 837.8 777.1
8 75 (level 3) 250 (level 2) 30 (level 1) Level 3 714.9 563.1
9 75 (level 3) 300 (level 3) 60 (level 2) Level 1 807.7 730.1
330 Materials and Structures (2013) 46:327–336

Table 3 Table of variance

Factor Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Fi F0.05 F0.01
analysis
SS-4#
A 2.376 2.344 2.360 0.00 6.94 18.00
B 2.376 2.311 2.393 2.00 6.94 18.00
C 2.142 2.427 2.510 50.00 6.94 18.00
SS-5#
A 2.257 2.330 2.070 4.80 6.94 18.00
B 2.211 2.152 2.295 1.20 6.94 18.00
C 1.907 2.313 2.437 20.40 6.94 18.00

significant effect on the dissolving result, but dissolv-
ing time (factor C) is a significant factor. The dis-
solved matter quantity from steel slag in the SAMA
solution increases with longer dissolving time.
3.2 Influence of fineness of steel slag powder
on the dissolved matter quantity
Three kinds of steel slag powders, SS-1#, SS-2# and
SS-3#, with different Blaine specific surface areas
obtained from the Shaogang Iron and Steel Group Co.
Ltd. and Baosteel Group Corp., were prepared. The
influence of the fineness of steel slag powder on the
mass percentage of the dissolved matter quantity from
steel slag was investigated. The experimental results
are illustrated in Fig. 1.
Figure 1 shows that, with same dissolving time, the
mass percentage of the dissolved matter quantity from
steel slag in the SAMA solution increases with the
fineness of steel slag powder when the Blaine specific
surface area is in the range of 200–400 m2 kg-1.
However, the mass percentage of dissolved matter
quantity is almost independent of the fineness of steel
slag powder when the Blaine specific surface area is in
the range of 400–600 m2 kg-1, the maximum mass
percentage of the dissolved matter quantity can be
obtained with a dissolving time of 2 h.
3.3 Repeatability of dissolution experiment
Steel slag powders of SS-4# and SS-5#, with Blaine
specific surface areas of 506 and 494 m2 kg-1,
respectively, were prepared. Each dissolution exper-
iment was conducted six times in parallel. Dissolving
times were set as 30 and 70 min in this experiment.
The total dissolved matter quantity and its CaO and
SiO2 contents are shown in Tables 4 and 5. Relative
standard deviation (RSD) of the repeatability exper-
iment results was used to denote its precision.
Results of repeated dissolving trial show that the
dissolved matter quantity of CaO, SiO2 and the total
dissolved matter quantity is close under the same
dissolving condition. Both the values of RSD are less
than 3 % except for the dissolved matter quantity of
SiO2 when dissolving time was 70 min for SS-5#. It
can be concluded that the precision of the dissolu-
tion experiment was high and the repeatability was
excellent. With the smallest RSD, the total quantity
dissolved from steel slag is deemed appropriate as an
evaluation parameter of the dissolution experiment.
3.4 Analysis of dissolved matter
3.4.1 Chemical composition analysis
A variety of converter steel slag from different sources
were dissolved in the SAMA solution at different
dissolving times using 50 mg ml-1 salicylic acid and
200 ml solvent volume. The mass fractions of
(CaO ? SiO2) to the total dissolved matter quantity
from steel slag are shown in Table 6.
Table 6 shows that the mass fraction of (CaO ?
SiO2) to the total dissolved matter quantity from steel
slag is as high as 94–98 %, except for SS-7# in a
dissolving time of 30 and 60 min being its extremely
high content of Al2O3 in raw material. The high mass
fraction of (CaO ? SiO2) to the total dissolved matter
quantity illustrates that the dissolved matter from steel
slag in the SAMA solution is composed mainly of
calcium silicate minerals.
Materials and Structures (2013) 46:327–336 331

55
Mass percent of steel slag

50
dissolved (w t %)

45

40

35
10 min
30 30 min
1h
25 2h
4h
20

15 (a)

200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600

Blaine specific surface area of steel
slag powder /(m2.kg-1)

40
Mass percent of steel slag

35
dissolved (w t %)

30

25
10 min
30 min
20 1h Fig. 2 SEM images of SS-1#: a before being dissolved, b after
2h being dissolved for 4 h
4h
15
(b) 3.4.2 Mineral composition and morphological
200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
observation
Blaine specific surface area of
XRD analysis was conducted on reference cement and
steel slag powder /(m2.kg-1)
steel slags before being dissolved in the SAMA
solution, as well as on the residue after being dissolved
40
Mass percent of steel slag

in the SAMA solution for 4 h. The XRD results are

35 shown in Table 7.
dissolved (w t %)

Taking the SS-1# as an example, the results of

30 morphological observation and micro-area composi-
tions are shown in Fig. 2 and Table 8.
25 Results of XRD analysis show that the main
10 min minerals in reference cement are alite, belite, trical-
20 30 min
1h cium aluminate (C3A) and dicalcium ferrite (C2F).
2h There mainly exists dode-calcium hepta-aluminate
15 4h
(c) (C12A7) and C3A in SS-7#, as well as a small amount
of Belite and MgO. The main minerals of the other
200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 600
kinds of steel slag are alite, belite, C2F and RO phase.
Blaine specific surface area of When reference cement and steel slags were dissolved
steel slag powder (m2.kg-1) in the SAMA solution for 4 h, the characteristic
diffraction peaks of tricalcium silicate (C3S) and
Fig. 1 Influence of fineness of steel slag powder on the mass
percentage of the dissolved matter quantity: a SS-1#, b SS-2#, dicalcium silicate (C2S) disappeared, but those of the
and c SS-3# other minerals were retained. The results of SEM–EDS
332 Materials and Structures (2013) 46:327–336

Table 4 Results of repeated dissolving trial of SS-4# in the SAMA solution

Dissolving Sequence number CaO SiO2 Total
time (min) of repeated trial
Dissolved matter RSD Dissolved matter RSD Dissolved matter RSD (%)
quantity (mg) (%) quantity (mg) (%) quantity (mg)

30 1 547.5 1.22 215.9 1.79 789.8 1.37

2 566.0 222.0 817.7
3 561.8 221.0 808.7
4 551.7 214.1 793.9
5 553.4 212.1 791.9
6 556.4 218.3 803.0
70 1 596.2 2.22 236.9 2.22 862.4 0.92
2 597.9 238.3 865.2
3 595.4 231.6 857.0
4 591.2 227.7 849.7
5 596.2 236.9 861.7
6 587.8 226.3 845.3

Table 5 Results of repeated dissolving trial of SS-5# in the SAMA solution

Dissolving Sequence number CaO SiO2 Total
time (min) of repeated trial
Dissolved matter RSD Dissolved matter RSD Dissolved matter RSD
quantity (mg) (%) quantity (mg) (%) quantity (mg) (%)

30 1 531.1 0.48 171.5 2.25 736.2 1.01

2 529.0 175.0 742.6
3 529.0 178.9 744.2
4 532.7 177.7 745.2
5 535.8 183.0 758.4
6 532.4 174.7 750.2
70 1 569.4 2.28 192.3 3.45 812.8 0.70
2 566.0 192.3 819.9
3 568.5 194.1 818.1
4 566.0 191.3 814.0
5 558.4 185.8 806.2
6 535.8 176.8 806.7

Table 6 Mass fraction of (CaO ? SiO2) to the total dissolved matter quantity (wt%)
Dissolving SS-1# SS-2# SS-3# SS-4# SS-5# SS-6# SS-7#
time (min)

2 94.16 97.57 94.28 95.83 96.41 94.93 97.24

5 94.36 95.98 94.42 96.14 95.22 96.43 94.74
10 95.43 97.13 93.50 97.11 95.11 95.56 94.83
20 95.10 95.63 94.78 97.10 95.10 95.46 95.84
30 96.88 95.16 93.52 95.81 94.14 95.09 90.75
60 94.56 95.47 94.86 96.32 95.05 94.73 90.16
Materials and Structures (2013) 46:327–336 333

Table 7 Mineral composition of reference cement and steel slags determinated by XRD
Sample Before being dissolved After being dissolved for 4 h

Reference C3S, C2S, C2F, MgO, SiO2, C2MS2, C3A, CaSO4
0.5H2O C2F, CaSO4
0.5H2O, MgO, SiO2, C2MS2, C3A
cement
SS-1# C3S, C2S, CMS, Ca(OH)2, C2F, f-CaO, FeO FeO, CMS, Ca(OH)2, f-CaO, C2F,
SS-2# C3S, C2S, C2MS2, SiO2, Ca(OH)2, C2F, FeO C2F, FeO, C2MS2, SiO2, MgO
SS-3# C3S, C2S, C2F, FeO C2F, FeO, MgO
SS-4# C3S, C2S, C2F, FeO, CMS2 C2F, FeO, MgO, C2MS2
SS-5# C3S, C2S, FeO, CFS, Ca(OH)2, C2F, SiO2 FeO, CFS, Ca(OH)2, MgO, C2F, C2MS2, SiO2
SS-6# C3S, C2S, FeO, CFS, Ca(OH)2, C2F, SiO2, C2MS2 FeO, CFS, C2F, SiO2, MgO, C2MS2
SS-7# C2S, C12A7, Ca(Mg,Al)2O6, MgO, C3A, C12A7, Ca(Mg,Al)2O6, MgO, C3A,
Ca3Al2(O4H4)3, MA Ca3Al2(O4H4)3, MA

Table 8 Micro-area composition of SS-1# in Fig. 2 (at.%)

P
Micro-area Mg Al Si Ca Mn Fe P Ti O

a 1.40 – 10.39 30.21 – 2.81 – – 55.20 100.00

b 1.27 – 11.05 29.77 0.36 4.12 0.21 – 53.22 100.00
c 1.36 – 10.82 28.78 0.58 3.05 – – 55.41 100.00
d 2.18 0.64 9.28 23.71 1.38 4.31 1.67 – 56.89 100.00
e 10.28 – 2.54 4.85 3.49 41.06 1.44 – 36.41 100.00
f 12.66 – 2.41 4.22 4.24 41.35 0.51 – 34.62 100.00
g 5.84 2.08 6.61 13.40 3.48 14.70 – 1.08 52.78 100.00
h 14.70 – 3.76 6.98 2.15 18.50 0.55 – 53.39 100.00
i 14.50 0.24 2.65 8.21 – 19.29 – – 55.08 100.00
j 17.73 – 2.64 7.80 2.50 18.01 – – 51.32 100.00
k 15.94 0.40 3.42 9.75 2.29 16.39 – – 51.81 100.00

analysis was in accordance with that of XRD. Based on
the changes of diffraction peaks of the samples before
and after dissolving in the SAMA solution, it can say
that the SAMA solution can selectively dissolve
calcium silicate minerals in cement and steel slag.
3.5 Relationship between the mass percentage
of the dissolved matter and the cementitious
property of cement-steel slag complex
cementitious material
3.5.1 Dissolving results of seven kinds of steel slags
in the SAMA solution
Dissolution experiments were conducted on seven
kinds of steel slags using 50 mg ml-1 salicylic acid
and 200 ml solvent volume. The mass percentage of
the dissolved matter from steel slag at different
dissolving times is shown in Fig. 3.
3.5.2 Cementitious property of cement-steel slag
complex cementitious materials
A variety of cementitious materials were prepared
using reference cement and steel slag with a 70:30
mass ratio. Figure 4 shows the mortar compressive
strengths of the cement-steel slag complex cemen-
titious materials. It can be observed that cement
blending with steel slag has a lower strength
compared with Portland cement. The kind of steel
slag strongly influences the compressive strength
of the mortar produced. Relationship between
the cementitious property of steel slag and its
alkalinity was discussed in Ref. [2]. The com-
pressive strengths of mortars prepared from dif-
ferent kind of steel slag vary considerably with
curing age. These differences reflect complicated
actions among bonding components in cementi-
tious materials.
334 Materials and Structures (2013) 46:327–336

55 Lr is the mass percentage of the dissolved matter

50 from steel slag at a given dissolving time, which is
Mass percent of steel slag

45 given in brackets (%).

dissolved (w t %)

40 DP(curing age II–curing age I) is the increment of mortar

35 compressive strength of cement-steel slag complex
30
binder from curing age I to curing age II (MPa).
25 SS-3# Linear regression analysis was performed between
SS-1# SS-2# Lr(dissolving time) and DP(curing age II–curing age I) for
20 SS-4# SS-6#
SS-5# SS-7# different sources of steel slags. As shown in Figs. 5
15
and 6, a significant linear relationship between
10
Lr(dissolving time) and DP(curing age II–curing age I) existed,
5
and the linear correlation coefficient of Lr(5 min) and
2 5 10 20 30 60 120 240 480 DP(90 d–7 d) was 0.9936 and that of Lr(60 min) and
Dissolving time (min) DP(90 d–28 d) was 0.9974.
Fig. 3 Mass percentage of dissolved matter from steel slag in
It is well known that the presence of cementitious
SAMA solution minerals such as C3S, C2S and C4AF etc. in steel slag
endorses it with potential cementitious property. Due
to low content of cementitious minerals in comparison
3.5.3 Analysis of the relationship between the mass to Portland cement clinker, steel slag can only be
percentage of the dissolved matter from steel regarded as a weak Portland cement clinker. As the
slag and its cementitious property results mentioned above, the kind of steel slag strongly
influences the mortar compressive strength of cement-
In order to analyze the relationship between the mass steel slag complex binder. There exists a significant
percentage of the dissolved matter from steel slag and linear relationship between Lr and DP because the
its cementitious property conveniently, two parame- value of Lr obtained reflects the content of cementi-
ters were defined as follows: tious minerals in steel slag, which is vital to the

Fig. 4 The mortar 65

compressive strength of
60
90d + +
cement-steel slag complex
cementitious materials
28d +
55
7d
Mortar compressive strength (MPa)

50

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
reference SS-1# SS-2# SS-3# SS-4# SS-5# SS-6# SS-7#
cement
Mortar samples
Materials and Structures (2013) 46:327–336 335

condition, the dissolution experiment shows good

24
repeatability. The mass percentage of dissolved matter
22 from steel slag has a significant linear relationship with
ΔP(90d-7d) (MPa)

mortar compressive strength increment of cementitious

20 material prepared form reference cement and steel slag
with mass ratio of 70:30. The linear correlation
18 coefficient is more than 0.99. Analysis of the chemical
compositions, mineral composition and microscopic
16
morphology show the dissolved matter from steel slag
14
in the SAMA solution is mainly calcium silicate
minerals. The cementitious property of steel slag can be
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 predicted rapidly through the selective dissolution of
Lr(5min) calcium silicate minerals using the SAMA solution.
Fig. 5 Relationship of Lr(5 min) and DP(90 d–7 d) Acknowledgments This study and the completion of this
paper were supported by the National Program on Key Basic
Research Project (973 Program) of China (Project No.
14
2009CB623104) and National Natural Science Foundation of
13 China (Project No. 51172145).

12
ΔP(90d-28d)(MPa)

11 References
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7 2. Ding XB, Zhao SY, Zhao XG et al (2008) Research on the
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