Influência do teor de sílica e alumina no comportamento pozolânico de materiais cimentícios suplementares

Abstract

The use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) in the cement production is an usually strategy to reduce costs, and it can promote the reduce of the CO2 emissions. These materials react with the calcium hydroxide (CH), generated in the cement hydration, forming hydrated calcium silicates and aluminates, contributing for the compressive strength. A pozzolanic material has to have, according the Brazilian Standards, a sum of Si, Al and Fe oxides above 70%. However, this requirement have to be taken in account with caution, as evidences indicate that only the amorphous fraction of the pozzolanic oxides consume CH. The aim of this work is to evaluate in a comparative way the influence of the chemical composition and of the amorphous fase of pozzolanic oxides in the reactivity of supplementary cementitious materials. It was studied a fly ash from coal burning (FA), a fired-clay brick powder (FCP) and a comercial metacaulim (MK). The size distribution of the material was adjusted in order to obtain a D50 of 4 ± 2 µm, in order to adjust the granulometry of the materials with the quartz powder (QP), that was employed in a secondary reference composition. The use of this secondary reference allows to compare the pozzolanic materials mixtures with a reference with the same cement consumption. The SCM were characterized by XRF, by laser granulometry, by nitrogen adsorption method, helium gas pycnometry, and by scanning electronic microscopy. It was also employed XRD associated with Rietveld refinement, using the internal pattern method for phase quantifying. The SCM reactivity was measured by Fratini Method, by TG/DTG and by compressive strength, in cement pastes and mortars. It was found that all SCM are reactions. The total amorphous content in general does not explain the CaO consumption, neither the mortars strength. The amorphous alumina content shows a considerable influence on the CH consume measured by TG, taking as reference the pastes with QP. The use of cement paste for compressive strength tests, as well the reference with QP, allowed to evaluate the contribution of the reactivity of SCM for the strength, and, in this case, the total amorphous content and the amorphous Al2O3 content presented the same tendency of behaviour: as big is the content, as big is the strength. However, this tendency it was not observed when the amorphous SiO2 is isolated, because the FCP does not have the same behaviour. It also was observed that the high content of Fe2O3 in the FCP can be responsable for the low tax of CaO consumption observed in the Fratini method of this SCM.