Properties of Fly Ash Blended Magnesium Potassium Phosphate Mortars: Effect of the Ratio between Fly Ash and Magnesia
Abstract
The ratio between fly ash (FA) and magnesia is an important factor for the optimum design of FA blended magnesium potassium phosphate cements (MKPCs). In this study, a high CaO content FA (CaO = 12.5 wt%) was used to partially replace magnesia at 0 wt%, 30 wt%, 50 wt%, 70 wt%, and 90 wt%, respectively. The experimental results showed that a FA replacement of 50 wt% led to the highest compressive strengths. A FA replacement of 70 wt% is considered as upper limit, as the presence of more FA caused significantly lower strength. In the plain and the FA blended MKPCs, K-struvite (MgKPO4∙6H2O) was the main hydrate. At very high FA contents, additional calcium potassium hydrogen phosphate (CaK3H(PO4)2) was observed as well as the destabilization of K-struvite to cattiite (Mg3(PO4)2∙22H2O), which could be one of the main factors responsible for the lower strength of high FA blended MKPC mortars stored under water.
Recommended Citation
B. Xu et al., "Properties of Fly Ash Blended Magnesium Potassium Phosphate Mortars: Effect of the Ratio between Fly Ash and Magnesia," Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 90, pp. 169 - 177, Elsevier, Jul 2018.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2018.04.002
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Compressive strength; Fly ash (FA); Magnesium potassium phosphate cement (MKPC); Microstructure; Water resistance
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0958-9465
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2018 Elsevier, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jul 2018
Comments
Financial supports from the China Ministry of Science and Technology under 2015CB655100 and from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council under 615810 are gratefully acknowledged.