Aggressive environment performance of low energy cements containing fly ash

In this study, compressive strength performance of boron active belite cement containing fly ash at the ratios of 0, 10, 20, and 30% (by weight of cement) is researched against aggressive environments; sea water, 5% sodium sulphate solution, and 5% ammonium nitrate solution in addition to tapping water. Alternative low energy cement i.e., Portland-composite cement was used and its results were compared with those of boron active belite cement. Early strength losses (reaching up to 40%) of the boron active belite cement with incorporation of fly ash up to 30% were found to be less pronounced than those (reaching up to 51%) of Portland-composite cement in tapping water. Although, the losses were highly compensated with the prolonged curing period (90 days), boron active belite cement and Portland-composite cement kept their losses up to 14% and 36%, respectively. Residual mechanical properties (reaching up to 67%) of boron active belite cement against aggressive environments were found almost similar to those of Portland-composite cement in presence of 30% fly ash. In conclusion, the study shows that belite cements with low fly ash contents can be a reasonable alternative for specific applications such as mass concrete, hot weather concreting especially in aggressive environments.