Materials Research Innovations

ISSN: 1432-8917 (Print) 1433-075X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ymri20

Effect of superfine blast furnace slag powder on

properties of cement-based materials

Q. L. Li, M. Z. Chen, F. Liu, S. P. Wu & Y. Sang

To cite this article: Q. L. Li, M. Z. Chen, F. Liu, S. P. Wu & Y. Sang (2015) Effect of superfine blast
furnace slag powder on properties of cement-based materials, Materials Research Innovations,
19:sup1, S1-168-S1-171, DOI: 10.1179/1432891715Z.0000000001397

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/1432891715Z.0000000001397

Published online: 23 Apr 2015.

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 Effect of superfine blast furnace slag powder
on properties of cement-based materials
Q. L. Li, M. Z. Chen*, F. Liu, S. P. Wu and Y. Sang
Industrial waste-like slag has caused serious problems all over the world. In this paper, blast
furnace slag was ground to be superfine powder and partial replacement of cement. Multiple
contents of slag powder used in cement were studied by cement paste, cement mortar and
cement concrete experiment. Water requirement of normal consistency, setting time, soundness,
fluidity, compressive and flexural strength were chosen to evaluate the performance of cement-
based with different contents of slag powder. The results show that superfine blast furnace slag
Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 05:16 04 April 2016

powder can be effectively used in cement with high contents. The strength of cement mortar
with 70% superfine blast furnace slag powder still can meet the requirements of Portland cement
P•O 32·5. Meanwhile, superfine blast furnace slag powder can improve fluidity of cement-based
materials.
Keywords: Superfine blast furnace slag powder, Cement based, Content, Strength

Introduction the performance. Water requirement of normal consist-

According to the world environmental protection organ-
isation, ‘Greenhouse effect’ caused by carbon dioxide has
become a worldwide environmental problem. Currently,
the best way to slow down ‘Greenhouse effect’ is reducing
the emission of carbon dioxide. About 7–10% of emission
of carbon dioxide by the global industrial is from the
cement industries.1–2 Many researches have been carried
out concerning the application of different wastes in
cement-based materials, which can reduce the production
of cement clinker to reduce carbon dioxide emissions sig-
nificantly. Meanwhile, the utilisation of waste is an
energy-saving measure of green environment protection,
which has been promoted in China.
Blast furnace slag is a by-product generated during
manufacturing of pig iron and steel. It consists primarily
of silicates, alumina-silicate and calcium–alumina–
silicates. Blast furnace slag has been widely used as a
cement replacement material because of its hydraulic
properties, but needed to improve its activity.3 Many acti-
vation methods, such as mechanical, thermal and chemi-
cal activation, have been used to improve the hydration
activity of blast furnace slag. Recent researches have
shown that in general, it is possible to use 30% ground
slag powder as substitution in cement;4–7 moreover, its
ideal content is no more than 30% in cement-based
materials.
To make use of slag more effectively, nine contents of
superfine blast furnace slag powder (SBFSP) were set
up to replace cement which were carried out to investigate
State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures (Wuhan
University of Technology), Wuhan 430070, China
*Corresponding author, email chenmzh@wuhan.edu.cn
ency, setting time, soundness, and fluidity, compressive
and flexural strength were chosen to evaluate the per-
formance of cement based with different contents of
SBFSP. The results show that it is feasible to use 70%
slag in cement-based materials.
Experimental
Materials
Portland cement P•O 42·5, according to Chinese
Standard (GB175-2007), used in this experiment, was
from Huaxin Cement Co. Ltd., China. SBFSP was pro-
vided by Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp., China.
The Blaine-specific surface area of cement and slag
powder (BET) is 1730 and 1610 m2kg−1, respectively.
The main components of these materials are shown in
Table 1.
Cement paste experiment
The mass ratios of SBFSP and cement were 0:100, 10:90,
20:80, 30:70, 40:60, 50:50, 60:40, 70:30, 80:20 and 90:10,
and the cement pastes were prepared using different ratios
of SBFSP and cement. Based on the Chinese National
Standard (GB/T 1346-2011), water requirement of
normal consistency, setting time and soundness were
chosen to evaluate the influence of SBFSP on the work-
ability of cement paste.
Cement mortar experiment
The mass ratios of SBFSP and cement in cement mortar
experiment were the same as that of cement paste exper-
iment, with the water/binder ratio of 0·5 and the cement/
sand ratio of 1:3. The size of mortar samples is 4 × 4 ×
16 cm. These samples were firstly cured in a fog room

© W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2015

Received 30 October 2014; accepted 28 December 2014
S1-168 DOI 10.1179/1432891715Z.0000000001397 Materials Research Innovations 2015 VOL 19 SUPPL 1
 Li et al. Effect of superfine blast furnace slag powder

Table 1 Main components of the raw materials (wt-%)

Chemical composition CaO SiO2 Al2O3 MgO SO3 K2O Na2O Fe2O3

Slag powder 39·86 34·66 13·05 7·8 1·81 0·54 0·33 0·25
Cement 59·1 22·5 6·07 1·59 2·09 0·7 0·17 3·42

Table 2 Mix proportion of concrete

No. Cement/kg Slag powder/kg Fly ash/kg Sand ratio/% Water reducer/% Water/kg

1–1 150 150 40 43 1·2 165

1–2 120 180 40 43 1·2 165
1–3 90 210 40 43 1·2 165

at 20 °C and 95% relative humidity for 1 day, and then

they were stripped from their moulds and placed in
water at 20 °C until testing ages. At the age of 3, 7 and
28 days, the compressive and flexural strength were
tested. Meanwhile, the fluidity of mortars was tested as
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per Chinese National Standard (GB/T 2419-2005).

Cement concrete experiment

C30 concrete were prepared and evaluated by slump and
compressive strength, according to Chinese National
Standard (JGJ55-2011). The size of concrete samples is
15 × 15 × 15 cm. These samples were firstly cured in a
fog room at 20 °C and 95% relative humidity for 1 day,
and then they were stripped from their moulds and
cured until testing ages. At the age of 3,7, 28 and 60
days, the compressive strength was tested. The mix pro-
portion of concrete was shown in Table 2.
Results and discussion
Cement paste properties
Water requirement of normal consistency refers to the
amount of water used in cement pastes reaching normal
consistency. Factors affecting water requirement include
mineral constituents, specific surface of cement, alkali
content and additives. Figure 1 shows that the influences
of different contents of SBFSP on water requirements of
cement. It can be found from Fig. 1 that with the increas-
ing dosage of SBFSP, water requirement of normal con-
sistency was reduced, which indicates that SBFSP can
reduce water requirement of cement and consequently
means that the same dosage of water can make cement
paste with slag has better fluidity.
Setting time reflects the speed of the cement setting and
hardening which describes the stiffening behaviour of the
cement paste and soundness is defined as the ability of a
2 Setting time of cement paste
hardened cement paste to retain its volume after setting.
Setting and soundness are important indexes of cement.
The influences of different contents of SBFSP on setting
time of cement were shown in Fig. 2. It can be seen that
with the increasing dosage of SBFSP, the initial setting
time was increased, whereas the final setting time was
reduced. So, the application of SBFSP in cement
mortar and concrete can contribute to the mixing, trans-
portation, casting and hardening.
Soundness reflects to the deformation of cement due to
uneven volume expansion after hardening. The autoclave
and boiling soundness of all samples tested can meet the
requirement of Chinese National Standard (GB/T 1346-
2011). It means that SBFSP does not have an adverse
effect on soundness of cement.
Cement mortar properties
Fluidity represents the workability of cement mortar.
To some extent, it can reflect the workability of concrete.8
Figure 3 shows that the influences of different contents of
SBFSP on water requirements of cement. It can be found

1 Water requirement of normal consistency 3 Fluidity of cement mortar

Materials Research Innovations 2015 VOL 19 SUPPL 1 S1-169

 Li et al. Effect of superfine blast furnace slag powder
4 Flexural strength of cement mortar
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5 Compressive strength of cement mortar
from Fig. 3 that with the increasing dosage of SBFSP, the
fluidity of cement mortar was relatively increased. The
result means that SBFSP can relatively improve workabil-
ity of cement. Because the construction technology of
modern concrete is mainly pumping, SBFSP will have a
better application prospect in the future concrete.
The flexural strength and compressive strength of
cement reflect the physical properties of cement that
already hydrated. They are the most important indexes
that decide whether cement can be applied in concrete.
The influences of different contents of SBFSP on flexural
and compressive strength of cement were shown in Figs. 4
and 5. It can be seen in Figs. 4 and 5 that with the increas-
ing of the content of SBFSP, the decreasing of strength of
cement became more obvious. From the relationship
between cement strength and SBFSP content, it can be
found that when the SBFSP content was between 10
and 50%, the strength of mortars was close to that of
control sample without SBFSP. When the SBFSP
content was over 50%, the strength of cement mortar
was decreased significantly. Still, the strength of mortars
with 70% SBFSP can meet the requirements of Portland
cement P•O 32·5, according to Chinese National
Standard (GB175-2007).
Concrete compressive strength
The result of slump of concrete was shown in Table 3. It
shows that SBFSP can improve workability of cement
concrete and consequently flow state concrete can be
Table 3 Slump of concrete with different contents of SBFSP
No. 1–1 1–2
Slump/mm 205 210
S1-170 Materials Research Innovations 2015 VOL 19 SUPPL
6 Compressive strength of concrete
prepared using SBFSP. This result is in accordance with
the result of cement mortar. Therefore, SBFSP is
especially suitable to partially replace cement to
produce some pumping concrete, flow concrete and con-
crete with special requirements.9
Compressive strength of concrete reflects the physical
properties of concrete that already hydrated. The result
of compressive strength of concrete was shown in
Fig. 6. It can be seen from Fig. 6 that compressive
strength of concrete with different dosages of SBFSP
was able to meet the requirements of C30 concrete.
Meanwhile, with the prolonging of curing ages, the com-
pressive strength of concrete with more SBFSP was
improved faster, which indicates that SBFSP can
improve the long-term strength of concrete.
Conclusions
1. The adverse effect on strength of cement is not
obvious when the superfine blast furnace slag
powder content is between 10 and 50%. But when
the superfine blast furnace slag powder content is
over 50%, the strength of cement will decrease signifi-
cantly. The strength of cement mortar with 70%
superfine blast furnace slag powder still can meet
the requirements of Portland cement P•O 32·5,
according to Chinese National Standard (GB175-
2007). It is possible to use more than 30% superfine
blast furnace slag powder in cement-based materials.
2. Superfine blast furnace slag powder can improve
workability of cement-based materials. Therefore,
superfine blast furnace slag powder is especially suit-
able to partially replace cement and produce flow
state concrete such as pumping concrete and self-
compacting concrete. Meanwhile, superfine blast
furnace slag powder can improve the long-term
strength of concrete.
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by National Project
of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs funded
by the National High Technology Research and
Development Program of China (‘863’, no.
2013AA031602).
1–3
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