Effect of supplementary materials on the autogenous shrinkage of cement paste

In recent years more and more attention has been given to autogenous shrinkage due to the increasing use of high-performance concrete, which always contains supplementary materials. With the addition of supplementary materials-e.g., fly ash and blast furnace slag-internal relative humidity, chemical shrinkage and mechanical properties of cement paste will be affected. These properties significantly influence the autogenous shrinkage of cement paste. In this study, three supplementary materials-i.e., silica fume, fly ash and blast furnace slag-are investigated. Measurements of final setting time, internal relative humidity, chemical shrinkage, compressive strength and autogenous deformation of the cement pastes with and without supplementary materials are presented. Two water-binder ratios, 0.3 and 0.4, are considered. The effects of different supplementary materials on autogenous shrinkage of cement paste are discussed.