Effect of curing environment on length changes of alkali-activated slag/cement kiln by-pass dust mixtures

This paper investigates the combination of commonly used blast furnace slag (BFS) and quite non-traditional cement kiln by-pass dust (BD) for the preparation of alkali-activated binder. More specifically, the possibilities of alkali-activated slag (AAS) shrinkage compensation and cracking mitigation using BD were studied. For this purpose, mixtures with ratios of BFS/BD ranging from 100/0 to 60/40 were prepared and cured in different environment, namely autogenous conditions, water curing, air curing and their combinations. The results showed that curing regime is a determinative parameter for performance of the mixtures: BD containing specimens showed a certain expansion during the first days of water curing leading to AAS shrinkage compensation, while in absence of water curing increasing dose of BD increased drying shrinkage significantly