A study on the hydration of calcium aluminate cement pastes containing silica fume using non-contact electrical resistivity measurement

In this study, a non-contact electrical resistivity method is employed to investigate the hydration process of calcium aluminate cement (CAC) pastes incorporating silica fume (SF) at an early age. The CAC-SF pastes have a water-to-binder ratio (w/b) of 0.6 and a replacement of SF for CAC at 0, 5, 10, and 20% (by weight of the binder). The pastes are tested for electrical resistivity, thermal analysis (internal temperature), setting time, and compressive strength, and the hydration products of the pastes are also examined. The results indicate that the evolution of electrical resistivity is closely related to the hydration process of the CAC pastes, and the conversion stage is closely associated with the setting time of pastes. As the increase of SF replacement, the hydration process of CAC pastes was accelerated within 24 h, and the development of compressive strength was hampered at an early age but increased later. SF replacement inhibits the conversion of metastable CAC hydrates (CAH10 and C2AH8) to C3AH6 through filling, seeding, and reacting with CAC, thus reducing the heat of hydration.