Early-age properties of cement paste with mechanically ground Yellow River sediment

Yellow River sediment(YRS) is a rich, low-activity silica-aluminum dredged sediment resource, which can provide a new source of supplementary cementitious materials(SCMS). This study investigated the influence of mechanically ground Yellow River sediments (MGYRS) on the hydration kinetics and early-age shrinkage of cement paste. Hydration kinetics revealed that MGYRS could significantly accelerate the hydration process, proceeding directly from the nucleation and crystal growth stage (NG) to the diffusion stage (D). In the plastic stage of cement paste, the early-age shrinkage of MGYRS at 40 min and 70 min increased by 250 µm/m and 99 µm/m, respectively. Microscopic analysis showed that MGYRS could promote the generation of Ca(OH)2, and the nucleation, micro-aggregate filling effect of MGYRS could refine the pore structure. This study can provide theoretical support for realizing the gelatinization of YRS.