• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.801-809
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• 2007

Fly ash and blast furnace slag are an industrial by-product that can be alkali-activated to yield adhesive and cementitious materials, whose production is less energy-intensive and emits less $CO_2$ than ordinary Portland cement manufacture. A laboratory investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of alkali-activating conditions on compressive strength of fly ash/slag cement and the acid corrosion resistance of this cement. Two alkali activator solution, NaOH and waterglass + NaOH solutions, were used. Waterglass concentration was the factor that gave the highest compressive strength in all tests. The next significant factor was the NaOH concentration, followed by curing temperature. Acid corrosion resistance of FC(fly ash cement) and FSC(fly ash/slag cement), such as sulfuric$(H_2SO_4)$ and hydrochloric acid(HCl), was for better than Portland cement(PC).

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.311-317
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• 2015

Cement zero concrete produced by alkali-activators and industrial by-products such as slag instead of cement, enables to solve the environmental pollution problems provoked by the exhaustion of natural resources and energy as well as the discharge of carbon dioxide. However, researches on the cement zero concrete are still limited to material studies and thus, study on the structural behavior of relevant members is essential to use the cement zero concrete as structural materials. This paper aims to evaluate experimentally and analytically the flexural behavior of RC beams using 50 MPa alkali activated slag concrete. To achieve such a goal, flexural tests on three types of RC beam specimens were conducted. A nonlinear analysis model is proposed using the modulus of elasticity and stress-strain relationship of alkali activated slag concrete. The analysis results obtained by the proposed model agree well with the experimental results, which could verify the validity of the proposed model.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.289-299
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• 2014

Alkali-activated slag concretes are being extensively researched because of its potential sustainability-related benefits. For such concretes to be implemented in large scale concrete applications such as infrastructural and building elements, it is essential to understand its early and long-term performance characteristics vis-a'-vis conventional ordinary portland cement (OPC) based concretes. This paper presents a comprehensive study of the property and performance features including early-age isothermal calorimetric response, compressive strength development with time, microstructural features such as the pore volume and representative pore size, and accelerated chloride transport resistance of OPC and alkali-activated binder systems. Slag mixtures activated using sodium silicate solution ($SiO_2$-to-$Na_2O$ ratio or $M_s$ of 1-2) to provide a total alkalinity of 0.05 ($Na_2O$-to-binder ratio) are compared with OPC mixtures with and without partial cement replacement with Class F fly ash (20 % by mass) or silica fume (6 % by mass). Major similarities are noted between these binder systems for: (1) calorimetric response with respect to the presence of features even though the locations and peaks vary based on $M_s$, (2) compressive strength and its development, (3) total porosity and pore size, and (4) rapid chloride permeability and non-steady state migration coefficients. Moreover, electrical impedance based circuit models are used to bring out the microstructural features (resistance of the connected pores, and capacitances of the solid phase and pore-solid interface) that are similar in conventional OPC and alkali-activated slag concretes. This study thus demonstrates that performance-equivalent alkali-activated slag systems that are more sustainable from energy and environmental standpoints can be proportioned.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.789-792
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigation the fundamental properties of alkali activated slag of type and concentration of alkali activator. In this paper sodium silicate, sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide were used as alkaline activator and their concentration were 1, 3, 5 and 7 $Na_2O$ weight percent. The physical properties of alkali activated blast furnace slag cement mortar (AAS) were investigated by flow test and compressive strength. And the hydration properties of AAS characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. Result show that Alkali activated slag mortar strengths were continuously increased with adding amount and ages. C-S-H were formed to be the main products up to 28days of hydration.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.240-241
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• 2018

In this paper, we tried to find the proper ratio of industrial byproducts which can express mechanical characteristics similar to ordinary portland cement by varying the ratio of industrial byproducts. as a result, the activated slag binder produced by the industrial byproduct in this study increased in compressive strength as the ratio of blast furnace slag increased and the fly ash ratio decreased.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.276-283
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• 2016

Red mud is an inorganic by-product produced from the mineral processing of alumina from Bauxite ores. the development of alkali-activated slag-red mud cement can be a representative study aimed at recycling the strong alkali of the red mud as a construction material. This study is to investigate the optimum water content, compressive strength, moisture absorption coefficient and efflorescence of alkali-activated slag-red mud soil pavement according to the recycling fine aggregate content. The results showed that the optimum water content, moisture absorption coefficient and efflorescence area of alkali-activated slag-red mud soil pavement increased but the compressive strength of that decreased as the recycled fine aggregate content increased.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2011

Five all-lightweight alkali-activated (AA) slag concrete mixes were tested according to the variation of water content to examine the significance and limitation on the development of cementless structural concrete using lightweight aggregates. The compressive strength development rate and shrinkage strain measured from the concrete specimens were compared with empirical models proposed by ACI 209 and EC 2 for portland cement normal weight concrete. Splitting tensile strength, and moduli of elasticity and rupture were recorded and compared with design equations specified in ACI 318-08 or EC 2, and a database compiled from the present study for ordinary portland cement (OPC) lightweight concrete, wherever possible. Test results showed that the slump loss of lightweight AA slag concrete decreased with the increase of water content. In addition, the compressive strength development and different mechanical properties of lightweight AA slag concrete were comparable with those of OPC lightweight concrete and conservative comparing with predictions obtained from code provisions. Therefore, it can be proposed that the lightweight AA slag concrete is practically applicable as an environmental-friendly structural concrete.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.261-268
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• 2017

Red mud is an inorganic by-product obtained from the mineral processing of alumina from Bauxite ores. A highly alkali inorganic waste product with a pH level over 11, red mud in its original state negatively impacts the ecosystem, so appropriate treatment is necessary. The development of alkali activated slag-red mud cement can be a representative study aimed at recycling the strong alkali of the red mud as a construction material. However, Alkali-activated binders that use sodium activators have been reported to be more vulnerable to efflorescence. Therefore, in this study, the compressive strength, pore characteristics, water absorption, elution characteristics, and efflorescence properties of alkali-activated slag cement mortar were assessed according to their red mud substitution ratio.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.40-47
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• 2011

In this study, we investigated the strength, shrinkage and durability of alkali-activated mortar using blast furnace slag only, and admixed with blast-furnace slag and fly ash as cementious materials in oder to develop cementless alkali-activated concrete. In order to compare with the alkali-activated mortar, the normal mortar using ordinary portland cement was also test. In view of the results, we found out that strength development, the resistance to shrinkage and freezing-thawing of the cementless alkali-activated mortar have better than the mortar using ordinary portland cement. Especially, using the combined with blast furnace slag and fly ash develop high strength of above 60 MPa, reduce shrinkage of about 40% and improve freezing-thawing durability of approximately 20%, but promote the velocity of carbonation of 2~3 times.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.38-47
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• 2018

Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) is a next generation energy production technology that converts coal into syngas with enhanced power generation efficiency and environmental performance. IGCC produces almost coal gasification slag as the solid by-product. IGCC slag is generated about 140,000 tons for a year although recycling of it is still in the early stages. We evaluated the potential of IGCC slag which is generated from a pilot plant in South Korea as an alkali-activated cement. Samples which were activated with the combined activator of sodium silicate solution and caustic soda had an average compressive strength of 4.5 MPa, showing expansion. Expansion of the alkali-activated slag was presumed to be caused by free CaO in the slag, although it was not detected by the ethylene glycol method. Samples that were activated with the combined activator of sodium aluminate and caustic soda had an average compressive strength of 10 MPa. Hydroxy sodalite and $C_3AH_6$ were found to be the new crystalline phases. IGCC slag can be used as an alkali-activated material, but the strength performance should be improved with proper mix design approach to calculate optimum proportions which can alleviate the expansion issue at the same time.