Biwen Liua,
Qian Zhangb,
Yuxiang Zhaoa,
Dongdong Huana and
Xinzhong Liu*a
aFujian University of Technology, China. E-mail: liuxinzh01@163.com
bFuzhou University, China
First published on 14th April 2023
Aerated concrete specimens were prepared at Fuzhou and Lhasa with the same processing conditions. The compressive strengths of the specimens in Lhasa were lower than that in Fuzhou. We used SEM-EDS, XRD, FT-IR and MIP to study their microstructure in order to find the reasons made for differences in strength. Furthermore, the effect of the preparation process on the material strength was analyzed. The results showed that a low ambient temperature affected the autoclave curing process of the aerated concrete. A longer time was needed to reach the desired constant temperature, resulting in an insufficient degree of hydration, a low level of tobermorite generation, poor crystallinity, high porosity, an uneven pore size distribution, more harmful pore content above 200 nm and unsatisfactory strength. Under low environmental pressure, increasing autoclave pressure can promote the better formation of tobermorite to improve the strength of aerated concrete.
Various factors, such as the types and ratios of the raw materials,8–10 autoclave temperature and time,11–13 greatly affect the formation of hydration products by the aerated concrete. Li et al.14 changed the pore structure and surface characteristics of the product by adding additives during autoclave curing, enhanced the formation of tobermorite, and thus improved the compressive strength of the AAC. Quartz sand with the appropriate fineness reacts well in a short time to form tobermorite with high crystallinity. By using waste sugar slag or BOF instead of lime,3,15 the aerated concrete generated a higher proportion of the tobermorite phase. Its structural surface showed a finer needle-like crystal morphology and a higher crystallinity.
To prepare aerated concrete that can adapt more effectively to this environment, we used the same process to prepare aerated concrete samples at high and low altitudes, compared their strength differences, and analyzed the possible reasons for the differences by determining the composition and microstructures of their hydration products. By comparing the strengths of aerated concrete samples prepared under different autoclave pressures in the plateau area, the hydration products and pore structure were analyzed, and the effect of the autoclaved curing process on strength was explored. The differences in the climates for high and low altitudes are mainly the temperatures and pressures, and the effect of autoclave pressure on strength was greater than that of the autoclave time. Therefore, we studied the mechanism for the effect of autoclave pressure on intensity.
Sand tailings | Lime | Cement | Plaster | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Consistency, % | — | — | 27.20 | — |
Loss of ignition, % | 5.89 | 0.22 | 3.13 | 13.56 |
SiO2, % | 71.49 | 5.66 | 24.98 | 6.18 |
Al2O3, % | 12.21 | 1.78 | 3.73 | 0.97 |
CaO, % | 3.12 | 69.55 | 58.92 | 32.45 |
MgO, % | 4.25 | 3.21 | 3.86 | 1.78 |
Fe2O3, % | 2.74 | 0.64 | 2.64 | 0.38 |
SO42−, % | — | — | — | 44.34 |
Samples | Ratio of raw materials | Autoclave system | Place |
---|---|---|---|
A | Sand tailings:lime:cement:plaster = 63:19:17:2 | Autoclave pressure: 1.2 MPa | Fuzhou |
Aluminum powder paste: 0.074% | Autoclave temperature: 190 °C | ||
Ratio of water to material: 0.6–0.65 | Autoclave time: 8 h | ||
B | Sand tailings:lime:cement:plaster = 63:19:17:2 | Autoclave pressure: 1.2 MPa | Lhasa |
Aluminum powder paste: 0.074% | Autoclave temperature: 190 °C | ||
Ratio of water to material: 0.6–0.65 | Autoclave time: 8 h | ||
C | Sand tailings:lime:cement:plaster = 63:19:17:2 | Autoclave pressure: 1.25 MPa | Lhasa |
Aluminum powder paste: 0.074% | Autoclave temperature: 192 °C | ||
Ratio of water to material: 0.6–0.65 | Autoclave time: 8 h | ||
D | Sand tailings:lime:cement:plaster = 63:19:17:2 | Autoclave pressure: 1.3 MPa | Lhasa |
Aluminum powder paste: 0.074% | Autoclave temperature: 194 °C | ||
Ratio of water to material: 0.6–0.65 | Autoclave time: 8 h |
The dry density and compressive strength of air-entrained concrete can be determined by means of formula (2) and (3), respectively:
(1) |
(2) |
(3) |
After the compressive strength test was completed, the crushed samples was made into cubes (the length of each edge was 5 mm). The surface of the samples were polished and sprayed with gold before the samples was characterized with a Czech TESCAN MIRA LMS field emission scanning electron microscope. The settings for the SEM analyses included an acceleration voltage of 5 keV, and the secondary electron image mode was used. Then, dotting the energy spectrum at the location where the lamellar structure appeared through SEM.
Other broken samples remaining after the compressive strength tests were ground into powders. Then, the microstructures of these sample powders was investigated by XRD and FT-IR analyses to elucidate the influence of the preparation process on the material strengths.
The crystal phase compositions and proportions of the prepared samples were analyzed with a Japanese Ultima IV X-ray diffractometer. The settings for the XRD analyses included a Cu radiation source. The samples were scanned over a 2θ range 5 to 80° with a step size of 0.02°. During the measurements, XRD experiments were performed at 40 kV and 15 mA.
The crystal plane distance was calculated with the Bragg equation:
2dsinθ = nλ | (4) |
The functional groups of the sample were characterized with a Bruker ALPHA Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. With potassium bromide as the background, potassium bromide and the sample powder were mixed, ground and pressed, and the wavenumber scanning range was 400–4000 cm−1.
Using the crushed sample from the previous compressive strength test and cutting them into cubes (the length of each edge was 10 mm). We used high-performance automatic mercury porosimeter (American Micromeritics AutoPore V 9620) to test the porosities and pore size distributions of the samples. And the pore size range was 0.003–1000 μm.
Samples | Shape | Size | Dry density (r0/kg m−3) | Compressive strength at 28 days (fcc/MPa) | GB/T11968-2020 | Actual strength level |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Strength level | ||||||
A | Cube | 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm | 714 | 5.2 | fcc ≥ 2.0 MPa, A2.0 | A5.0 |
B | Cube | 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm | 605 | 4.1 | fcc ≥ 2.5 MPa, A2.5 | A3.5 |
C | Cube | 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm | 612 | 4.3 | fcc ≥ 3.5 MPa, A3.5 | A3.5 |
D | Cube | 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm | 710 | 5.1 | fcc ≥ 5.0 MPa, A5.0 | A5.0 |
Additionally, with an increase in the autoclave temperature, the content of tobermorite in the test block increased, and the bond between the hydration products became tighter. It was evident that the content of tobermorite in sample D was equivalent to that in sample A, while the distribution of tobermorite crystals in sample A was more regular and orderly. Therefore, the strength of sample A was slightly higher than that of sample D.
To explore the element differences of the hydration products generated under different autoclave curing conditions, a random point was selected in the leaf-shaped area (i.e., tobermorite) for EDS detection. From Fig. 4 and Table 4, we can see that C, O, Ca, Si and Al were detected in tobermorite in the samples, but the contents of Ca and Si were different, which may be due to different autoclave curing conditions, resulting in different crystal forms of the tobermorite, which affected the final strength of the product. The Al contents were also different, which may have been due to different temperatures in the autoclave, which would lead to different participation of the active-Al2O3 in the hydrothermal reaction.
Fig. 4 EDS spectra of tobermorite in different autoclaved aerated concretes; (a) sample A; (b) sample B; (c) sample C and (d) sample D. |
Samples | C (wt/%) | O (wt/%) | Al (wt/%) | Si (wt/%) | Ca (wt/%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | 15.4 | 46.03 | 0.82 | 15.5 | 22.25 |
B | 7.34 | 43.6 | 3.19 | 22.09 | 23.78 |
C | 9.86 | 44.94 | 2.06 | 14.59 | 28.56 |
D | 15.17 | 45.8 | 1.27 | 15.05 | 22.71 |
The crystalline state of tobermorite greatly affected the aerated concrete. MDI-Jade software was used to calculate the corresponding half-height width and peak intensity of the tobermorite phase (T) with different X-diffraction d values. The difference between the full width at half maximum and the peak intensity was used to characterize the difference in the phases, and then the macroscopic properties were determined. The calculation results are shown in Table 5.
Crystal surface | d | A | B | C | D | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FWHM | Peak intensity | FWHM | Peak intensity | FWHM | Peak intensity | FWHM | Peak intensity | ||
(002) | 1.133 | 0.286 | 14 | 0.333 | 14 | 0.194 | 11 | 0.250 | 14 |
(201) | 0.548 | 0.153 | 9 | 0.291 | 9 | 0.195 | 9 | 0.179 | 9 |
(205) | 0.350 | 0.224 | 20 | 0.312 | 9 | 0.377 | 11 | 0.266 | 22 |
(220) | 0.308 | 0.172 | 40 | 0.134 | 51 | 0.182 | 41 | 0.160 | 42 |
(222) | 0.298 | 0.203 | 26 | 0.240 | 26 | 0.238 | 32 | 0.221 | 30 |
(008) | 0.282 | 0.299 | 15 | 0.245 | 15 | 0.221 | 11 | 0.264 | 22 |
(425) | 0.200 | 0.264 | 11 | 0.246 | 11 | 0.215 | 8 | 0.317 | 14 |
(2,2,10) | 0.182 | 0.192 | 29 | 0.218 | 27 | 0.285 | 21 | 0.172 | 25 |
The crystallinity of the tobermorite was calculated with formula (5):18
(5) |
After this calculation, the relative crystallinities of test pieces A, B, C and D tobermorite were 0.35, 0.24, 0.26 and 0.33, respectively. Test block A had higher crystallinity and a better crystalline state, so the strength of A was greater, consistent with the previous results of compressive strength.
The presence of hydrated garnet inhibited the formation of tobermorite and eventually led to insufficient strength of the test block. According to JCPDS No. 38-0368, the diffraction peaks at 2θ = 28° correspond to the (400) crystal planes, and the diffraction peak intensity for hydrated garnet was the most obvious of the samples. Fig. 3 and Table 6 show that the diffraction peak intensity for hydrogarnet near 2θ = 28° decreased in the order B > C > D > A, so many substances had adverse effects on the compressive strengths in sample B and sample C, and the intensities were less than those of sample A and sample D.
Crystal surface | d | A | B | C | D | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FWHM | Peak intensity | FWHM | Peak intensity | FWHM | Peak intensity | FWHM | Peak intensity | ||
(400) | 0.318 | 0.135 | 26 | 0.178 | 53 | 0.182 | 41 | 0.189 | 32 |
Excessive residual quartz in the test block affected the formation of tobermorite in the solidified body, loosening the structure of tobermorite and resulting in a decrease in the strength of the test piece.19 The diffraction peaks at 20.8°, 26.6°, 39.4°, 42.4°, 60.0° and 68.2° corresponded to the (100), (101), (102), (200), (211) and (301) crystal planes of SiO2, respectively, which matched the standard card JCPDS No. 45-1480. The intensity of the quartz diffraction peak at 26.6° was the strongest. Table 7 shows that the diffraction peak intensity of quartz sand at θ = 26.6° decreased as B > C > D > A. Therefore, samples B, C, and D had many substances with adverse effects on the compressive strength, and the strength of sample A was greater than that of the other three.
Crystal surface | d | A | B | C | D | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FWHM | Peak intensity | FWHM | Peak intensity | FWHM | Peak intensity | FWHM | Peak intensity | ||
(101) | 0.230 | 0.119 | 103 | 0.232 | 279 | 0.134 | 234 | 0.126 | 134 |
Owing to the presence of some crystal water in tobermorite, the peaks near 3448 cm−1 and 1622 cm−1 were attributed to the asymmetric stretching vibration and bending vibration of OH−.25 The main reason for the appearance of crystal water is that even if the reaction occurred under high-temperature conditions, the crystal water present in the hydrated product completely evaporated.
Moreover, the peaks at 1464 cm−1 and 875 cm−1 correspond to the asymmetric stretching vibration and the flexural vibration absorption of CO32−.26–28 In addition, the characteristic diffraction peaks of calcite were detected in the XRD spectrum. This may be the reason for the adsorption of a small amount of CO32− in the hydrated silicate or the small amount of carbonaceous material formed during the production process. The asymmetric stretching vibration absorption peak intensity of CO32− of sample D in the figure was smaller than that of the other samples, indicating that its carbonization degree was the smallest. On the other hand, the characteristic peak intensity of Si–O–Si was smaller than that of sample A, so the strength of sample A was slightly larger than that of sample D and higher than that of samples B and C. This result is in line with the previous test results of compressive strength.
The average pore size reflected the average value of the internal pore size in the aerated concrete block. The larger the average pore size was, the more obvious the coalescence of bubbles. As the amount of aluminum powder was increased, the distances between particles decreased. When the aluminum powder particles were gradually transformed into expanded bubbles, the distances between bubbles decreased, that is, the porosity decreased, and the bubbles floated upward during the expansion process, which increased the probability of coalescence between bubbles and formation of larger bubble diameters.
Fig. 8 shows that the porosity, average pore size and compressive strength were inversely proportional. According to Table 8, with an increase in the autoclave pressure from 1.2 MPa to 1.3 MPa, the total porosity of the sample decreased from 73.71% to 67.30%, the average pore size decreased from 91.21 nm to 74.88 nm, and the compressive strength increased from 4.1 MPa to 5.1 MPa. As the autoclave temperature rose and the hydration reaction continued, more hydration products were formed, the gaps between the pores were filled, and the hydration products were wrapped and crossed to form a dense spatial network structure, thus refining the original pore distribution. The reduction of average pore size and porosity made the compressive strength develop in a favorable direction.
Samples | Total porosity | Average aperture (nm) | Aperture distribution | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<20 nm | 20–50 nm | 50–200 nm | 200 nm–1 μm | >1 μm | |||
A | 64.88% | 50.33 | 15.5% | 14.3% | 27.9% | 11.5% | 30.8% |
B | 73.71% | 91.21 | 5.5% | 10.8% | 22.6% | 21.9% | 39.2% |
C | 71.49% | 80.46 | 4.1% | 14.9% | 33.5% | 12.4% | 35.1% |
D | 67.30% | 74.88 | 14.2% | 18.9% | 22.3% | 11.8% | 32.8% |
With increasing autoclave pressure, the hydration reaction continued, the yield of the hydration products increased, the gaps between the pores were filled, and the hydration products were wrapped and crossed to form a dense spatial network structure, thus refining the original pore distribution and increasing the compressive strength.
This paper was focused on the strength difference of aerated concretes formed in high and low-altitude areas. Due to the limited time, the durability was not studied. To enable the application of aerated concrete in building walls in cold and high-altitude areas and provide a theoretical basis for the design and construction of local building materials, tests of the split pressure ratios and durabilities (dry shrinkage, carbonization, freeze–thaw cycle, ultraviolet aging, etc.) of aerated concretes will be carried out in future work.
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