Effect of temperature on the hydration process and strength development in blends of Portland cement and activated coal gangue or fly ash

This paper describes the results of an investigation into the effect of the variation of curing temperatures between 0 and 60 °C on the hydration process, pore structure variation, and compressive strength development of activated coal gangue-cement blend (ACGC). Hardened ACGC pastes cured for hydration periods from 1 to 360 d were examined using the non-evaporable water method, thermal analysis, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and mechanical testing. To evaluate the specific effect of activated coal gangue (ACG) as a supplementary cementing material (SCM), a fly ash-cement blend (FAC) was used as a control. Results show that raising the curing temperature accelerates pozzolanic reactions involving the SCMs, increasing the degree of hydration of the cement blends, and hence increasing the rate of improvement in strength. The effect of curing temperature on FAC is greater than that on ACGC. The pore structure of the hardened cement paste is improved by increasing the curing temperature up to 40 °C, but when the curing temperature reaches 60 °C, the changing nature of the pore structure leads to a decrease in strength. The correlation between compressive strength and the degree of hydration and porosity is linear in nature.