Advances in Cement Research Advances in Cement Research, 2012, 24(1), 33–40

Volume 24 Issue 1 http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/adcr.2012.24.1.33

Paper 1000060
Influence of high-temperature curing on the Received 17/10/2010; accepted 18/03/2011
hydration characteristics of a cement–GGBS
Thomas Telford Ltd & 2012
binder
Wang, Miao, Feng and Yan

The influence of high-

temperature curing on the
hydration characteristics of a
cement–GGBS binder
Qiang Wang Jingjing Feng
Researcher, Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University,
PR China Beijing, PR China
Miao Miao Peiyu Yan
PhD student, Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing,
Beijing, PR China PR China

The influence of high temperature curing at early ages on the hydration characteristics of a complex binder
containing ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) was investigated. High-temperature curing at early ages
promotes the early hydration of cement, but it hinders the later hydration, and leads to large pores in the
microstructure. So the long-term strength of cement mortar cured under high temperature at early ages is lower than
that cured at under 208C. The hydration of a cement–GGBS complex binder is more sensitive to temperature than is
cement, and the strength gain rate of a cement–GGBS mortar is higher than that of cement mortar under high
temperature curing at early ages. After high temperature curing at early ages, the later hydration of the cement
fraction of the complex binder is hindered, but the later reaction of GGBS fraction is not influenced. The further
reaction of GGBS increases the C–S–H gel quantity and improves the pore structure. Therefore, the cement–GGBS
mortar gains a high early strength under high temperature curing at early ages, and its strength has a considerable
increment at later ages due to the contribution of the reaction of GGBS.

Introduction conditions (Barnett et al., 2006; Richardson et al., 1989; Sisom-

Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), which is a by-
product of the manufacture of iron ore into pig-iron, is produced
by water quenching of molten blast furnace slag. Its main
chemical compositions include: 27–40% SiO2 , 30–50% CaO, 5–
15% Al2 O3 , and 1–10% MgO (Bellmann and Stark, 2009;
Collins and Sanjayan, 2001; Sisomphon, 2009). GGBS is a very
attractive material to be used as cement replacement in concrete
from both environmental and economical points of view. In
general, the activity of GGBS is improved by increasing its
fineness. However, the fineness is limited by economic considera-
tion. The specific surface area of GGBS is normally 350–
550 m2 /kg (Pal et al., 2003). The amorphous glass content is
considered to be a very important factor influencing the activity
of GGBS (Kumar et al., 2008; Pal et al., 2003; Song and Hamlin,
1999). However, there is no exact correlation of glass content to
activity of GGBS (Demoulian et al., 1980; Shi et al., 2006).
Therefore, the activity of GGBS is judged by direct strength
performance tests rather than glass content criteria in most
countries. GGBS can improve the durability and workability of
concrete at late ages (Barnett et al., 2006; Chidiac and Panesar,
2008; Osborne, 1999; Sharfuddin et al., 2008; Sisomphon, 2009).
However, it may result in a decrease of strength at early ages and
delay of setting time of concrete under standard 208C curing
phon, 2009).
Curing temperature is widely known to play an important role in
the hardening process of concrete. Cement hydrates more rapidly
with the increase of curing temperature at early ages, and so
increasing curing temperature accelerates the rate of strength gain
of concrete (Escalante-Garcia and Sharp, 2001; Paul and Glasser,
2000). However, higher curing temperature usually results in lower
ultimate strength of concrete (Escalante-Garcia and Sharp, 2001;
Klieger, 1958; Kondo, 1973; Paul and Glasser, 2000; Tan and Liu,
2006). The decrease in later strength of concrete is not so easily
explained. Some researchers (Copeland and Kantro, 1969; Esca-
lante-Garcia and Sharp, 1998a; Paul and Glasser, 2000) found that
the higher the curing temperature of the cement paste, the lower
will be its later hydration degree. Other researchers (Cao and
Detwiler, 1995; Kjellsen et al., 1991) found that the porosity of
long-term cement paste increased with the increase of curing
temperature. Kondo (1973) found that high curing temperature
made the internal hydration products of cement clinker very dense,
which decreased its further reaction rate.
Similar to Portland cement, the hydration degree of GGBS
increases with curing temperature at early ages (Escalante-Garcia

33
Downloaded by [ University of Leeds] on [18/11/23]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Advances in Cement Research Influence of high-temperature curing on
Volume 24 Issue 1 the hydration characteristics of a cement–
GGBS binder
Wang, Miao, Feng and Yan

6
et al., 2001; Luke and Glasser, 1998). Moreover, hydration of Cement
GGBS is much more sensitive to temperature than Portland
5 GGBS
cement. Barnett et al. (2006) found that the apparent activation
energy of cement–GGBS complex binder increases approximately

Volume percent: %
4
linearly with GGBS proportion. The previous literatures disclosed
limited information about the influence of elevated temperature
3
curing on the long-term characteristics of cement–GGBS paste.

In large structural concrete elements, especially foundation plates, 2

where heat dissipation is slow, there is a significant rise in
temperature at early ages. The binder content of high-strength 1
concrete (HSC) is high and thus the hydration temperature rise of
the structural concrete elements using HSC is also usually high at 0
0·1 1 10 100 1000
early ages. The influence of the hydration temperature rise of Particle size: µm
concrete under these circumstances on its long-term performances
cannot be neglected. The reaction kinetics of cement–GGBS Figure 1. Particle size distributions of Portland cement and GGBS
binder may be more complicated than those of cement under the
condition of high temperature curing. The aim of the present
study was to investigate the effect of high temperature curing at
early ages on the characteristics especially the long-term behav- 65
18C for 14 days and then at temperature of 20
18C till the
iour of cement–GGBS paste. testing age. At the ages of 3, 7, 14, 28, 90, 720 days, the hydration
was stopped by soaking the samples in acetone.

Experimental
Raw material
Ordinary Portland cement with the strength grade of 42.5,
complying with the Chinese National Standard GB 175-1999, and
granulated blast furnace slag, complying with the Chinese
National Standard GB/T 18046-2008, were used in this study. The
chemical compositions of Portland cement and GGBS are shown
in Table 1. The specific areas of Portland cement and GGBS are
312 and 409 m2 /kg, respectively. The particle size distributions of
Portland cement and GGBS are shown in Figure 1.
Mix proportions and curing conditions
Cement paste was prepared by mixing cement with water at water-
to-cement ratio of 0.42 (mass ratio). Cement–GGBS paste was
prepared by mixing a complex binder (55% cement + 45% GGBS,
by weight) with water at water-to-binder ratio of 0.42 (mass ratio).
All the pastes were cast into plastic centrifuge tubes and sealed
strictly immediately after being stirred uniformly. Half of cement
pastes (denoted by C) and cement–GGBS pastes (denoted by B)
were cured at temperature of 20
18C until the testing age. The
other half of cement pastes (denoted by CH) and cement–GGBS
pastes (denoted by BH) were first cured at temperature of
Mortar bars of 40 mm 3 40 mm 3 160 mm were prepared. ISO
standard sand was used. Two binders were used: pure cement and
complex binder (55% cement + 45% GGBS). Mortars were
prepared by mixing binder, sand, and water with a binder-to-sand
ratio of 1 : 3 and binder-to-water ratio of 1 : 0.5 (mass ratio)
using a mixing machine. All mortars were cured first at 20
18C
and 95% humidity for 1 day and then demoulded. Half of the
cement mortars (denoted by CM) and cement–GGBS mortars
(denoted by BM) were cured in water at temperature of 20
18C
until the testing age. The other half of the cement mortars
(denoted by CMH) and cement–GGBS mortars (denoted by
BMH) were cured under steam curing condition of 65
18C for
the next 14 days and then in water at a temperature of 20
18C
until the testing age. At the ages of 3, 7, 28, 90 and 720 days,
their compressive strength and bending strength were tested
according to Chinese National Standard GB/T 17671-1999.
Tests
X-ray diffraction (XRD: TTR III diffractometer) was used to
identify the crystalline hydration products. Patterns were obtained
on finely ground samples using nickel-filtered CuKÆ1 radiation
(¼ 1.5405 Å), 45 kV voltage and 200 mA current.

Compositions SiO2 Al2 O3 Fe2 O3 CaO MgO SO3 Na2 Oeq Loss on ignition

Cement 21.86 4.25 2.66 63.59 2.19 2.42 0.55 1.75

GGBS 31.76 14.84 0.6 36.44 9.08 0 0.56 0

Note: Na2 Oeq ¼ Na2 O + 0.658K2 O.

Table 1. Chemical compositions of cement and GGBS (%)

34
Downloaded by [ University of Leeds] on [18/11/23]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Advances in Cement Research Influence of high-temperature curing on
Volume 24 Issue 1 the hydration characteristics of a cement–
GGBS binder
Wang, Miao, Feng and Yan

90
The non-evaporable water (wn ) content was obtained as the
difference in mass between the sample heated at 105 and 10008C 80
normalised by the mass after heating at 10008C, and correcting

Compressive strength: MPa

70
for the loss on ignition of unhydrated samples (Lam et al., 2000;
Sarita et al., 2006). 60

50
A mercury intrusion porosimeter (MIP) was used to determine
the pore size distribution of hardened pastes. The operating 40 CM
pressure was up to 60 000 lb/in2 , which could intrude mercury BM
into pores as small as 3.2 nm in diameter. 30
CMH
20 BMH
Thermogravimetric analysis was performed by obtaining thermo-
gravimetric/differential thermogravimetric (TG/DTG) curves 10
3 10 100 1000
using a TA-Q5000 instrument with a heating rate of 108C/min in Age: days
a nitrogen atmosphere.
Figure 2. Compressive strength plotted against time for the four
The determination of the degree of reaction of GGBS was based mortars
on a selective dissolution procedure using salicylic acid–metha-
nol–acetone solution (Kondo and Ohsawa, 1968; Moranville-
Regourd, 1998; Zhou et al., 1993). The principle is that in a 12
cement–GGBS hardened paste, the hydration products of cement
and GGBS, and the unhydrated cement components are soluble in
such selective solution. Therefore, the amount of unreacted 10
Bending strength: MPa

GGBS can be measured by dissolving the hydration products of

cement and GGBS, and the unhydrated cement. The selective
solution was prepared by mixing 2.5 g salicylic acid, 35 ml 8
acetone and 15 ml methanol. Sample of 0.25 g was subjected to
CM
the selective solution, stirring for 24 h. Thereafter, the mixture
BM
was filtered through a filter paper; the filter paper and the residue 6
CMH
were washed with methanol and the residue was then heated at
8508C for 10 min. The fraction of reacted GGBS was determined BMH
by Equation 1: 4
3 10 100 1000
Age: days
SP  pC SC
x¼1
1: pF SF Figure 3. Bending strength plotted against time for the four
mortars

where x is the fraction of reacted GGBS, SP is the residue per

gram of cement–GGBS paste, SC and SF are the residue per gram
of plain cement paste and the residue per gram of GGBS and pC
and pF are the weight percentage of cement and GGBS of the
complex binder, respectively.
under the condition of high temperature curing, which agrees
with other results in the literature for the effect of high tempera-
ture curing on early strength of cement–GGBS mortar or con-
crete (Barnett et al., 2006; Escalante-Garcia and Sharp, 2001).

Results and discussion

Strength
The compressive strength and bending strength development with
age are shown in Figures 2 and 3, respectively, for four mortars
(CM, BM, CMH, and BMH). As expected, the early strengths of
CMH and BMH were much higher than those of CM and BM,
respectively. This is because the rate of reaction at early ages is
greater at higher temperature. Note that the strength of BM was
lower than that of CM, but the strength of BMH was higher than
that of CMH at early ages. Therefore, the strength gain rate of
cement–GGBS mortar was higher than that of cement mortar
The compressive strength of CMH was lower than that of CM at
the ages of 90 and 720 days; the bending strength of CMH was
lower than that of CM at the age of 720 days. A similar result
has been reported by others (Escalante-Garcia and Sharp, 2001;
Klieger, 1958; Paul and Glasser, 2000; Tan and Liu, 2006).
Different behaviour was observed with cement mortar; the com-
pressive strength of BMH was a little higher than that of BM at
the age of 720 days, whereas the bending strength of BMH was
much higher than that of BM at the age of 90 and 720 days.
Therefore, high temperature curing at early ages does not have
any adverse effect on the late strength of cement–GGBS mortar.

35
Downloaded by [ University of Leeds] on [18/11/23]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Advances in Cement Research Influence of high-temperature curing on
Volume 24 Issue 1 the hydration characteristics of a cement–
GGBS binder
Wang, Miao, Feng and Yan

XRD results
Figures 4 and 5 show the XRD patterns of pastes C, CH, B and
BH at the age of 3 and 720 days, respectively. Hydration of C2 S
and C3 S results in the formation of calcium–silica–hydrates
(C–S–H) gel and Ca(OH)2 : The C–S–H gel was amorphous and
thus it did not have diffraction peaks in the XRD spectrum. As
shown in Figures 4 and 5, Ca(OH)2 was the main crystalline
phase in the hydration products. The hydration of GGBS
consumes Ca(OH)2 : Thus, the intensity of characteristic peaks of
Ca(OH)2 can be used as a measure to reflect the reaction of the
GGBS. Lower peak intensity means more consumption of
Ca(OH)2 and, in turn, more reaction of the GGBS. It is obvious
C
A–C3S B–C2S C–Ca(OH)2
C
A strength result in the present study and the apparent activation
C
D BB B B C C
that the peak intensity of Ca(OH)2 of the cement–GGBS paste
was much lower than that of cement paste. Moreover, the peak
intensity of Ca(OH)2 of paste BH was lower than that of paste B
at the age of 3 days as well as at 720 days.
wn content
The wn content provides a semi-quantitative indicator of the
hydration of binder. Figures 6 and 7 show the wn content of
cement paste and cement–GGBS paste, respectively. At early
ages, the wn content of the paste cured at 658C was much higher
than that of the paste cured at 208C. The wn content of paste CH
was 29.03% higher than that of paste C at the age of 3 days. The
wn content of paste BH was 65.69% higher than that of paste B
D–AFt at the age of 3 days. So the promoting effect of high temperature
on the early hydration of cement–GGBS paste was more signifi-
cant than that of cement paste. This result is consistent with the
CC energy result in Barnett’s paper (Barnett et al., 2006).
(CH)
24
Non-evaporable water: %

(C) 21

(BH)

18
(B)
C
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
2 Theta CH
15

Figure 4. XRD results of pastes at the age of 3 days

12
3 10 100 1000
C Age: days
B–C2S C–Ca(OH)2 D–AFt

C Figure 6. The w n contents of cement paste plotted against time

B B C C
D C CC
(CH) 27

24
Non-evaporable water: %

21

18

B
(C) 15
BH

12
(BH)

9
(B) 3 10 100 1000
Age: days
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
2 Theta
Figure 7. The w n contents of cement-GGBS paste plotted against
Figure 5. XRD results of pastes at the age of 720 days time

36
Downloaded by [ University of Leeds] on [18/11/23]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Advances in Cement Research Influence of high-temperature curing on
Volume 24 Issue 1 the hydration characteristics of a cement–
GGBS binder
Wang, Miao, Feng and Yan

24
As shown in Figure 6, the gap of wn contents between paste CH C
and paste C became small with prolongation of hydration age in C ⫻ 0·55
20
90 days. At the age of 90 days, the wn content of paste CH was B
close to that of paste C. At the age of 720 days, the wn content of

Ca(OH)2 content: %
paste CH was lower than that of paste C. This means that the 16
hydration degree of cement in paste CH was lower than that of
cement in paste C in later hydration period. This may be due to 12
the formation of dense hydrated phases around the unreacted 2·65
cement particles, preventing further hydration (Barnett et al., 0·19
8
2006). It is an important reason for lower long-term strength of
cement mortar under higher curing temperature. 4

Figure 7 shows that the wn content of paste BH was higher than 0

that of paste B at each hydration age, although the gap of wn 3 720
contents between paste BH and paste B became small with the Hydration age: days
prolongation of hydration age. The wn content of cement–GGBS
Figure 8. Ca(OH)2 contents of paste C and paste B
paste was attributed to the hydration of cement as well as GGBS.
High temperature curing at early ages has an adverse effect on
the long-term hydration degree of cement (Figure 6). Therefore,
it can be deduced that in paste BH, the contribution of GGBS on CH
24
the wn content of the paste was more than in paste B at the age of CH ⫻ 0·55
720 days. It is an indication that high temperature curing at early BH
20
ages does not have an adverse effect on the long-term hydration
Ca(OH)2 content: %

of GGBS. 16

Ca(OH)2 content
Generally, the DTG plot of cement–GGBS paste is similar to that
of cement paste, and there are five distinct regions for both plots
(Kumar et al., 2008; Mojumdar and Janokta, 2002; Moranville-
Regourd, 1998; Sha and Pereira, 2001; Strydom and Potgieter,
1997; Taylor, 1998): dehydration of free water (up to 1408C);
decomposition of C–S–H, CAH, AFt, and AFm (about 140–
4008C); decomposition of Ca(OH)2 (about 400–5008C); decom-
position of carbonate, hydrated aluminate and final stage of
decomposition of C–S–H (about 500–7508C); recrystallisation
of new phases (above 7508C). The samples of this research were
sealed strictly in plastic centrifuge tubes in the curing stage, and
the TG/DTG experiment was conducted in a nitrogen atmosphere,
so there was no carbonation reaction in the samples.
The Ca(OH)2 contents of the pastes calculated based on the
TG/DTG plots are shown in Figures 8 and 9. The Ca(OH)2
contents of paste C were 15.82 and 21.33% at the age of 3 and
720 days, respectively. The Ca(OH)2 contents of paste CH were
17.97 and 20.28% at the age of 3 and 720 days, respectively. So
it is very clear that high temperature curing at early ages
promotes early hydration of cement but hinders its later hydra-
tion.
12
3·36
2·26
8
4
0
3 720
Hydration age: days
Figure 9. Ca(OH)2 contents of paste CH and paste BH
cement in cement paste and cement–GGBS paste are the same at
the same age, then the Ca(OH)2 produced by the cement in the
cement–GGBS paste was 55% of that in cement paste. Generally,
the hydration degree of cement in cement–GGBS paste is a little
higher than that in cement paste, because the actual water-to-
cement ratio in cement–GGBS paste is higher and there is more
space available for hydration product to form (Escalante-Garcia
and Sharp, 1998b; Soroka, 1979). Therefore, this analysis method
is a qualitative method.

During the hydration process of cement–GGBS binder, the
hydration of cement produces Ca(OH)2 but the reaction of GGBS
consumes Ca(OH)2 : So there is no correlation between Ca(OH)2
content and hydration degree of cement–GGBS binder, whereas,
the consumption content of Ca(OH)2 can be used to reflect the
hydration of GGBS. If it is assumed that the hydration degrees of
The increased reactivity of GGBS with higher temperatures has
been reported by many researchers (Barnett et al., 2006; Fernandez-
Jimenez and Puertas, 1997; Luke and Glasser, 1998). It can be seen
clearly from Figures 8 and 9 that the assumption content of
Ca(OH)2 by GGBS in paste BH was much more than that in paste B
at the age of 3 days, which further proves that the hydraulic activity

37
Downloaded by [ University of Leeds] on [18/11/23]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Advances in Cement Research Influence of high-temperature curing on
Volume 24 Issue 1 the hydration characteristics of a cement–
GGBS binder
Wang, Miao, Feng and Yan

was excited by high temperature at early ages. At the age of 720
days, the assumption content of Ca(OH)2 by GGBS in paste BH was
also more than that in paste B, which indicates that the hydration
degree of GGBS in paste BH was higher than that in paste B.
Pore structure
Many properties of hardened concrete, such as strength, durabil-
ity, permeability and so on, are related to the quantity and the
characteristics of the pores in the concrete (Neville, 1996; Yong,
1998). Hardened cement paste contains large capillary pores with
diameter of more than 50 nm, medium capillary pores with
diameters between 10 and 50 nm and gel pores with diameter of
less than 10 nm (Mindess and Young, 1984).
Some researchers believe that high temperature at early ages
accelerates the hydration of cement and results in a non-uniform
distribution of hydration products, which leads to large pores in
the microstructure (Barnett et al., 2006; Yong, 1998). Figure 10,
which shows the pore size distributions of cement pastes at the
age of 720 days, confirms this point of view. It can be seen from
Figure 10 that paste CH had more pores with diameter larger than
200 nm than paste C at the age of 720 days. Moreover, the total
0·20
CH
Differential pore volume: ml/g
porosities of pastes C and CH were 18.96 and 22.86%, respec-
tively. Hence mortar CMH had lower strength than mortar CM at
the age of 720 days.
Figure 11 shows the pore size distributions of cement–GGBS
paste at the age of 720 days. It is clear that the pore size
distribution of cement–GGBS pastes is finer than that of cement
pastes at the age of 720 days, which reflects the contribution of
the hydration of GGBS to the structural system. The total
porosities of paste B and paste BH were 15.94 and 15.58%,
respectively. Although the porosities of paste B and paste BH
were close to each other, the pore size distributions of these two
pastes were very different. Pores with diameter larger than
200 nm account for 12.7 and 21.2% of the total pores in paste B
and paste BH, respectively. Pores with diameter smaller than
10 nm account for 41.9 and 50.3% of the total pores in paste B
and paste BH, respectively. So paste BH had more large pores
(. 200 nm) and small pores (, 10 nm) than paste B, but it had
fewer pores with diameter between 10 and 200 nm than paste B.
It is believed that high temperature curing was the main reason
that paste BH had more large pores than paste B. Paste BH
having more small pores than paste B was believed to be due to
the reaction of GGBS, which increased the amount of C–S–H
gel. It is an indication that the contribution of GGBS to the
improvement of pore structure in paste BH was more than that in

C paste B at the age of 720 days.

0·15

Reaction degree of GGBS

0·10 Figure 12 shows the reaction degrees of GGBS in cement–GGBS
pastes. At the end of the high temperature curing period (14
0·05 days), the reaction degree of GGBS in paste BH reached 52.4%,
which was much higher than that in paste B. This is because the
hydration activity of GGBS was excited by the high temperature.
0·00 Moreover, the high temperature also promoted the hydration of
1 10 100 1000 10 000
Pore diameter: nm cement and thus the alkaline-activating effect of cement was
enhanced.
Figure 10. Pore size distributions of pastes C and CH at the age
of 720 days
100
BH
0·15
B 80 B
Differential pore volume: ml/g

BH
Reaction degree: %

0·10 60

40
0·05

20
0·00
1 10 100 1000 10 000
Pore diameter: nm 0
14 720
Hydration age: days
Figure 11. Pore size distributions of pastes B and BH at the age of
720 days Figure 12. Reaction degree of GGBS in pastes BH and B

38
Downloaded by [ University of Leeds] on [18/11/23]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Advances in Cement Research
Volume 24 Issue 1
At the age of 720 days, the reaction degree of GGBS in paste BH
reached 84.7%, which was still much higher than that in paste B.
Note that the increments of reaction degree of GGBS in paste BH
and paste B from 14 days to 720 days were 32.3 and 30.4%,
respectively, indicating that the reaction of GGBS at later ages is
not influenced by high-temperature curing at early ages. This
conclusion is consistent with the deduction from XRD, wn
content and Ca(OH)2 content results.
The hydration mechanism of GGBS in cement–GGBS paste is
that the hydroxyl ions released during the hydration of cement
break and dissolve the glassy structure of GGBS, mainly forming
C–S–H gel with low Ca/Si ratio (Taylor et al., 2010). Alkaline
condition was helpful to the reaction of GGBS; however, the
reaction of GGBS does not consume a large amount of Ca(OH)2 ,
because GGBS itself contained 30–50% CaO. By the age of 720
days, 63.2% of GGBS in paste B had been reacted, consuming
22.6% of the Ca(OH)2 produced by cement fraction; 84.7% of
GGBS in paste BH had been reacted, consuming 30.1% of the
Ca(OH)2 produced by cement fraction. It can be concluded that
although the later hydration of cement fraction in paste BH was
hindered, which resulted in the reduction of Ca(OH)2 , the amount
of Ca(OH)2 in paste BH was enough to support the reaction of
GGBS. Therefore, high temperature curing at early ages promotes
the early reaction of GGBS, and in the meanwhile, it does not
hinder the later reaction of GGBS. The later reaction of GGBS in
paste BH increases the gel amount and improves the pore
structure, which makes a significant contribution to the further
improvement of the structural system.
Conclusions
The strength, XRD, wn content, Ca(OH)2 content, and MIP
results confirm that high temperature curing at early ages has an
adverse effect on the long-term properties of cement paste, for
two reasons: lowering the long-term hydration degree of cement
and leading to large pores. High temperature curing at early ages
accelerates the hydration of both cement and GGBS. The
hydration of cement–GGBS complex binder is more sensitive to
temperature than that of cement. The strength gain rate of
cement–GGBS mortar is higher than that of cement mortar under
high temperature curing at early ages. The later hydration of
GGBS is not influenced by high temperature curing at early ages.
For the cement–GGBS binder cured under high temperature at
early ages, although the later hydration of the cement fraction is
hindered, the later hydration of the GGBS fraction contributes to
the structural system, increasing C–S–H gel and improving the
pore structure. Therefore, the strength of cement–GGBS mortar
has a considerable increment at later ages due to the contribution
of the reaction of GGBS.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge National Basic Research
Program of China Grant (No. 2009CB623106) and Beijing
Municipal Natural Science Foundation (No. 8100001).
Downloaded by [ University of Leeds] on [18/11/23]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Influence of high-temperature curing on
the hydration characteristics of a cement–
GGBS binder
Wang, Miao, Feng and Yan
REFERENCES
Barnett SJ, Soutsos MN, Millard SG and Bungey JH (2006)
Strength development of mortars containing ground
granulated blast-furnace slag: effect of curing temperature
and determination of apparent activation energies. Cement
and Concrete Research 36(3): 434–440.
Bellmann F and Stark J (2009) Activation of blast furnace slag by
a new method. Cement and Concrete Research 39(8): 644–
650.
Cao YJ and Detwiler RJ (1995) Backscattered electron imaging of
cement pastes cured at elevated temperatures. Cement and
Concrete Research 25(3): 627–638.
Chidiac SE and Panesar DK (2008) Evolution of mechanical
properties of concrete containing ground granulated blast
furnace slag and effects on the scaling resistance test at 28
days. Cement and Concrete Composite 30(2): 63–71.
Collins FG and Sanjayan JG (2001) Microcracking and strength
development of alkali-activated slag concrete. Cement and
Concrete Composite 23(4–5): 345–352.
Copeland LE and Kantro DL (1969) Hydration of Portland
cement. Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on
the Chemistry of Cement, Tokyo. Semento Kyokai, Tokyo.
Vol. 4, pp. 387–421.
Demoulian E, Gourdin P, Hawthorn F and Vernet C (1980)
Influence of slags chemical composition and texture on their
hydraulicity. Proceedings of the 7th International Congress
on the Chemistry of Cement, Paris. Éditions Septima, Paris.
Vol. 2, pp. 89–94.
Escalante-Garcia JI and Sharp JH (1998a) Effect of temperature
on the hydration of the main clinker phases in Portland
cements: Part 1. Neat cements. Cement and Concrete
Research 28(9): 1245–1257.
Escalante-Garcia JI and Sharp JH (1998b) Effect of temperature
on the hydration of the main clinker phases in Portland
cements: Part II, blended cements. Cement and Concrete
Research 28(9): 1259–1274.
Escalante-Garcia JI and Sharp JH (2001) The microstructure and
mechanical properties of blended cements hydrated at various
temperatures. Cement and Concrete Research 31(5): 695–
702.
Escalante-Garcia JI, Gomez LY, Johal KK, Mendoza G, Mancha H
and Mendez J (2001) Reactivity of blast-furnace slag in
Portland cement blends hydrated under different conditions.
Cement and Concrete Research 31(10): 1403–1409.
Fernandez-Jimenez A and Puertas F (1997) Influence of the
activator concentration on the kinetics of the alkaline
activation process of a blast furnace slag. Material
Construction 47(246): 31–41.
Kjellsen KO, Detwiler RJ and Gjorv OE (1991) Development of
microstructures in plain cement pastes hydrated at different
temperatures. Cement and Concrete Research 21(1): 179–189.
Klieger P (1958) Effect of mixing and curing temperature on
concrete strength. ACI Journal 54(6): 1063–1081.
Kondo R and Ohsawa S (1968) Studies on a method to determine
the amount of granulated blast furnace slag and the rate of
39
 Advances in Cement Research
Volume 24 Issue 1
hydration of slag in cement. Proceedings of the 5th
International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement Tokyo.
Semento Kyokai, Tokyo. Vol. 4, pp. 225–262.
Kondo R (1973) Effect of heating on cement hydration. Semento
Gijutu Nenpo 27(1): 45–50. (in Japanese).
Kumar S, Kumar R, Bandopadhyay A and Alex TC (2008)
Mechanical activation of granulated blast furnace slag and
its effect on the properties and structure of Portland slag
cement. Cement and Concrete Composite 30(8): 679–685.
Lam L, Wong YL and Poon CS (2000) Degree of hydration and
gel/space ratio of high-volume fly ash/cement systems.
Cement and Concrete Research 30(5): 747–756.
Luke K and Glasser FP (1998) Internal chemical evolution of the
constitution of blended cements. Cement and Concrete
Research 19(4): 2495–2502.
Mindess S and Young JF (1984) Concrete. Prentice Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Moranville-Regourd M (1998) Cements made from blast furnace
slag. In Lea’s Chemistry of Cement and Concrete (Hewlett
PC, (ed.)) Arnold, London, pp. 633–699.
Mojumdar SC and Janokta I (2002) Thermophysical properties of
belends from Portland and sulphoaluminate-belite cements.
Acta Physica Slovaca 52(5): 425–446.
Neville AM (1996) Properties of Concrete, 4th edn, Wiley, New
York.
Osborne GJ (1999) Durability of Portland blast-furnace slag
cement concrete. Cement and Concrete Research 21(1):
11–21.
Pal SC, Mukherjee A and Pathak SR (2003) Investigation of
hydraulic activity of ground granulated blast furnace slag in
concrete. Cement and Concrete Research 33(9): 1481–1486.
Paul M and Glasser FP (2000) Impact of prolonged warm moist
cure on Portland cement paste. Cement and Concrete
Research 30(12): 1896–1877.
Richardson IG, Wilding CR and Dickson MJ (1989) The hydration
of blast furnace slag cements. Advances in Cement Research
2(8): 147–157.
Sarita R, Singh NB and Singh NP (2006) Interaction of tartaric
40
Downloaded by [ University of Leeds] on [18/11/23]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
Influence of high-temperature curing on
the hydration characteristics of a cement–
GGBS binder
Wang, Miao, Feng and Yan
acid during hydration of Portland cement. Indian Journal of
Chemical Technology 13(3): 255–261.
Sha W and Pereira GB (2001) Differential scanning calorimetry
study of hydrated ground granulated blast-furnace slag.
Cement and Concrete Research 31(2): 327–329.
Sharfuddin AM, Kayali O and Anderson W (2008) Choride
penetration in binary and ternary blended cement concretes as
measured by two different rapid methods. Cement and
Concrete Composite 30(7): 576–582.
Shi CJ, Krivenko PV and Roy D (2006) Alkali-Activated Cements
and Concretes. Taylor Francis, New York, USA, pp. 34–36.
Sisomphon K (2009) A chemical analysis method for determining
blast-furnace slag content in hardened concrete. Construction
and Building Material 23(1): 54–61.
Song SJ and Hamlin MJ (1999) Pore solution chemistry of alkali-
activated ground granulated blast-furnace slag. Cement and
Concrete Research 29(2): 159–170.
Soroka I (1979) Portland Cement Paste and Concrete. Macmillan,
London, UK.
Strydom CA and Potgieter JH (1997) An investigation into the
chemical nature of the reactivity of lime. Proceedings of the
10th International Congress on Chemistry of Cement,
Gothenburg, Sweden, pp. 20–49.
Tan KF and Liu T (2006) Effect of high temperature curing on
compressive strength of concrete. Journal of Building
Material 9(4): 473–476 (in Chinese).
Taylor HFW (1998) Cement Chemistry, 2nd edn. Thomas Telford,
London, UK.
Taylor R, Richardson IG and Brydson RMD (2010) Composition
and microstructure of 20-year-old ordinary cement-ground
granulated blast-furnace slag blends containing 0 to 100%
slag. Cement and Concrete Research 40(7): 971–983.
Yong JF (1998) A review of pore structure of cement paste and
concrete and its influence on permeability. Permeability of
Concrete ACI 108(1): 1–18.
Zhou H, Wu X, Xu Z and Tang M (1993) Kinetic study on
hydration of alkali-activated slag. Cement and Concrete
Research 23(6): 1253–1258.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
To discuss this paper, please submit up to 500 words to
the editor at www.editorialmanager.com/acr by 1 April
2012. Your contribution will be forwarded to the
author(s) for a reply and, if considered appropriate by
the editorial panel, will be published as a discussion in a
future issue of the journal.