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In recent decades, considering environmental issues, partial replacement of Portland cement with supplementary cementitious material (SCM), namely ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), has been in the spotlight of research. On the other hand, carbon‐based nanomaterials, especially graphene oxide (GO), are recognized as an extraordinary additive with special characteristics that can be included in cementitious materials. In this research, the impact of GGBS on the mechanical properties and durability of GO‐modified mortars was investigated at 28 and 90 days. The results demonstrate that by increasing the content of GGBS, a decrease in the flexural and compressive strength compared to plain cement sample was seen. On the other hand, incorporation of GGBS and GO led to higher strength compared to GO‐cement mortar. Also, the compressive strength of the sample containing 20% GGBS and 0.03% GO was 38.7% higher than the plain cement sample at 90 days. On the other hand, adding GGBS to a GO‐reinforced sample resulted in a more durable specimen against chloride and acid environments. The sample made of 40% GGBS in GO‐modified mortar not only has the best efficiency in harsh environments but also has the lowest water absorption. This mortar improved the migration coefficient, mass loss in HCl solution, and initial sorptivity by 20.1%, 57.7%, and 37.1%, respectively. Moreover, the mentioned sample had a denser microstructure with smaller cracks compared to other samples, based on scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the feasibility of using two types of waste glass sand as fine aggregate replacement in ambient cured alkali‐activated mortars (AAMs). Fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag were used as aluminosilicate source materials to produce the AAMs. The waste glass sand was used to replace 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% fine aggregate (by mass) in AAMs. The influences of the use of waste glass sand, for the replacement of fine aggregate, on slump flow, setting time, compressive strength, and flexural strength of ambient cured AAMs were evaluated. It was found that the slump flow and setting time of ambient cured AAMs significantly increased as the percentage of replacement of fine aggregate by waste glass sand increased. However, the compressive and flexural strengths of ambient cured AAMs decreased when 50% and over fine aggregate were replaced by waste glass sand. The ambient cured AAMs with 25% replacement of fine aggregate with waste glass sand achieved the highest compressive and flexural strengths. Scanning electron microscope analysis indicated that the increase in the compressive strength and flexural strength of AAMs was due to the bridging‐like effect and filling effect provided by the waste glass sand. The use of waste glass sand as a partial replacement of fine aggregate in ambient cured AAMs was found to be feasible. In addition, 25% of the fine aggregate replaced by waste glass sand resulted in the best mechanical properties for ambient cured AAMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an experimental study of the influence of elevated temperature on alkali activated slag (AAS) and slag‐metakaolin (MK) systems. The residual compressive and flexural tensile strengths, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and porosity and water absorption ratios of AAS and AAS‐MK composites after subjected to elevated temperatures of 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000°C were investigated. Two different procedures were applied for cooling the specimens. The changes in the microstructure of the composites after subjected to high temperature were examined with scanning electron microscope and X‐ray diffraction. Test results reveal that depending on the increasing temperature, the residual compressive strength, flexural tensile strength, and UPV values of the specimens decreased, and porosity and water absorption ratios increased. The minimum strength results of AAS and AAS‐MK specimens were observed at 800 and 600°C, respectively. In particular, there have been significant changes in the internal structure of AAS and AAS‐MK specimens exposed to 1000°C and new reaction products were observed. Test results have shown that AAS specimens are a new alternative that can be developed for use in environments exposed to high temperatures. Since this new composite contains only slag binder and slag aggregate, it can be an economical product that use fully recycled material and these properties can increase the application areas of environmentally friendly material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]