Effect of limestone waste on the hydration and microstructural properties of cement-based materials

The benefits of limestone waste as a partial replacement of cement have been well established. In this paper, to better understand the effect of limestone waste on the properties of cement-based materials, the hydration process and microstructural properties of cement are evaluated. The results showed that the limestone waste decreased the fluidity of cement mortar, while the mortar having up to 10 % limestone waste provided competitive properties with pure cement mortar. It is concluded that the presence of limestone waste has both negative and positive effects simultaneously on the hydration and microstructural properties of the cement paste. During the hydration process, the net reaction heat of limestone waste in the cement blends ranged from 0.38 J/g to 4.1 J/g. In addition, the thermodynamic modeling and XRD indicated that the monocarbonate and hemicarbonate were stable in the limestone-cement blends, and the limestone waste increased the stability of ettringite.