Effect of Granite Powder Grain Size and Grinding Time of the Properties of Cementitious Composites

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to determine the effect of granite powder grain size and grinding time on the properties of cement paste. A series of cement pastes modified by the addition of granite powder were made and the properties of the fresh mixtures and the mechanical properties of hardened pastes were studied. Based on the study, the best results, from the point of view of the application of granite powder in cementitious composites, were obtained for a sample with granite powder ground for 3 h, in which 50% of the particles were smaller than 4 μm, and 90% were below 20 μm. Compressive strength of 55 MPa and flexural strength of 6.8 MPa were obtained on this sample after aging for 28 days. To confirm the validity of using granite powder as substitute materials, additional tests such as scanning microscopy with elemental analysis (SEM, EDS) and infrared (FTIR) studies were performed.