Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

This research is made up of five studies mainly focused on attaining sustainability in high alumina cements like calcium aluminate cement (CAC) and calcium sulfoaluminate belite cements (CSAB) by partially replacing them with additives and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) like fly ash (FA). The first study focused on understanding the reaction kinetics of CAC and FA binders at different replacement levels (i.e. between 10%-to-50% by mass) and their effect on mechanical properties. It was also shown that the reactive nature of FAs can be determined by calculating a single parameter called number of constraints (nc) derived from topological constraint theory. In the follow up study, additives like limestone (CC̅) or calcium sulfate (C$) are used to replace CACs. While the [CAC+ CC̅] and [CAC+C$] binders showed higher heat release, but didn’t they didn’t show higher compressive strengths. A different study investigates the impact of limestone (CC̅) and gypsum (C$H₂) additives on CSAB cements. The higher CC̅ levels enhanced ye’elimite hydration and heat release, they also caused strength reduction from dilution. An optimal mix with an M-ratio of 2.99 and 20% CC̅ achieved both high strength and reduced carbon footprint. The fourth paper investigates the impact of FAs in [CSAB + FA] binders. In the final study, Machine learning (ML) has been employed to CAC binders to reveal non-linear relationships between mixture design parameters and the properties of composite materials. This approach enables more efficient and data-driven optimization of cement formulations.

Advisor(s)

Kumar, Aditya

Committee Member(s)

Ma, Hongyan
Smith, Jeffrey D.
O'Malley, Ronald J.
Gu, Yijia

Department(s)

Materials Science and Engineering

Degree Name

Ph. D. in Materials Science and Engineering

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Fall 2025

Journal article titles appearing in thesis/dissertation

Paper I, (found on pages 18–53) “Understanding Roles and Evaluating Reactivity of Fly Ashes in Calcium Aluminate Binders” was published in the Journal of Construction and Building Materials.

Paper II, (found on pages 54–85) “Hydration of High-Alumina Calcium Aluminate Cements with Carbonate and Sulfate Additives” was published in the Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry.

Paper III, (found on pages 86–122) “Deciphering Impacts of Gypsum and Limestone on Belite Calcium Sulfoaluminate Cement Hydration and Strength” was submitted in the Journal of Construction and Building Materials.

Paper IV, (found on pages 123–162) “Effect of compositional limits of Fly Ashes on the hydration kinetics and compressive strength in Belite Calcium Sulfoaluminate Binders.” was submitted in the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering.

Paper V, (found on pages 163–193) “Predicting Compressive Strength and Hydration Products of Calcium Aluminate Cement Using Data-Driven Approach” was published in the Journal of Materials

Pagination

xvi, 234 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes_bibliographical_references_(pages 226-233)

Rights

© 2025 Sai Akshay Ponduru , All Rights Reserved

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 12557

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