Abstract

GIRALDO M., MANUEL ALEJANDRO. MINERALOGICAL EVOLUTION OF PORTLAND CEMENT DURING HYDRATION PROCESS. Dyna rev.fac.nac.minas [online]. 2006, vol.73, n.148, pp.69-81. ISSN 0012-7353.

An investigation about mineralogical evolution during hydration process of the portland cement was carried out in this work using techniques of materials characterization, such as X ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to understand the behaviour shown by the different minerals of the cement (alite, belite, celite and felite) and their transformation in the stables hydrate phases (tobermorite, portlandite, ettringite) It was found that, in general, the hydration process happens in a different way in each mineral either because of the reaction speed, or the crystalline changes experienced by them in the transformation from the anhydrous to the hydrated phase. The tobermorite gel (CSH), portlandite and ettringitre formation and the changing in appearance of the paste during the hydration advances, could be appreciated.

Keywords : Mineralogical evolution; Cement minerals; SEM; XRD.