Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T15:42:26.140Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Reactivity of C109 Sand: A Closer Look

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

Michael W. Grutzeck
Michael W. Grutzeck*
Affiliation:
Materials Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
Get access

Abstract

It was observed that standard ASTM C 109 sand (St. Peter Sandstone) from working quarries in the Ottawa area (northeastern Illinois) is nearly always sub-angular to rounded, frosted in appearance, and occasionally covered with localized, relatively large, terminated quartz overgrowths. At higher magnifications the frosted surface of the quartz sand was found to consist of a thin layer of micron-sized, coprecipitated quartz crystals and occasional kaolinite flakes. Upon reaction of the sand with either a saturated Ca(OH)2 solution or as part of a sand-cement paste, some of these features were preserved, whereas others were lost. Micrographs of sand cured in cement paste at 90°C are presented showing that the kaolinite flakes react and become “puffy” and rounded in appearance. Also, the smooth surfaces of the large, terminated quartz overgrowths are severely etched as a result of dissolution. Sand reacted at 38°C in saturated Ca(OH)2 solution demonstrated more subtle effects, perhaps obscured by precipitated CaCO3 and C-S-H on the surfaces of the quartz overgrowths. These results suggest that ASTM C 109 sand is not entirely inert, but exhibits a limited amount of temperature-dependent pozzolanic activity.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 85: Symposium M – Microstructural Development During Hydration of Cement , 1986 , 55
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Thiel, G.A., Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 46, 559–614 (1935).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Grutzeck, M.W., J. Sed. Petrology 5, 669–673 (1986).Google Scholar
3. Odom, I.E., Willand, T.N., Lassin, R.J., in Aspects of Diagenesis, edited by Scholle, and Schluger, (Soc. Paleontologists Mineralogists, Spec. Pub. 26, 1979) pp. 425–443.Google Scholar
4. Barnes, B.D., Diamond, S., Dolch, W.L., Cement, Concrete and Aggregates 1, 21–24 (1979).Google Scholar
5. Porter, J.J., J. Sed. Pet. 32, 124–135 (1962).Google Scholar
6. Mazzullo, J.M. and Ehrlich, R., J. Sed. Petrology 53, 105–119 (1983).Google Scholar
7. Siever, R., J. Geology 70, 127–150 (1962).Google Scholar
8. Houseknecht, D.W., J. Sed. Petrology 54, 348–361 (1984).Google Scholar
9. Mackenzie, F.T. and Gees, R., Science 173, 533–535 (1971).Google Scholar
10. Amaral, E.J., Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. W. Progr. 6 1018–1019 (1974).Google Scholar
11. Struble, L., Skalny, J., Mindess, S., Cem. Concr. Res. 10, 277–286 (1980).Google Scholar
12. Kondo, R. and Ohsawa, S., J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 62, 447–449 (1979).Google Scholar
13. Grutzeck, M.W. and Ramachandran, A.R., Cem. Concr. Res. 17, 164–170 (1987).Google Scholar