POZZOLANIC ACTIVITY

The pozzolanic activity is a measure for the degree of reaction

over time or the reaction rate between a pozzolan and
Ca2+ or Ca(OH)2 in the presence of water. The rate of
the pozzolanic
reaction is
dependent
on
the
intrinsic
characteristics of the pozzolan such as the specific surface area,
the chemical composition and the active phase content.
FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE ACTIVITY OF POZZOLAN
Composition

The overall chemical composition of a pozzolan is considered as

one of the parameters governing long term performance (e.g.
compressive strength) of the blended cement binder, ASTM C618
prescribes that a pozzolan should contain SiO2 + Al2O3 + Fe2O3
70 wt.%. In case of a (quasi) one phase material such as blastfurnace slags the overall chemical composition can be considered
as meaningful parameter, for multi-phase materials only a
correlation between the pozzolanic activity and the chemistry of
the active phases can be sought.
Many pozzolans consist of a heterogeneous mixture of phases of
different pozzolanic activity. Obviously, the content in reactive
phases is an important property determining the overall reactivity.
In general, the pozzolanic activity of phases thermodynamically
stable at ambient conditions is low when compared to on an
equal specific surface basis to less thermodynamically stable
phase assemblages. Volcanic ash deposits containing large
amounts
of volcanic glass or zeolites are
more
reactive
than quartz sands or detrital clay minerals]]. In this respect, the
thermodynamic
driving
force
behnind
the pozzolanic
reaction serves as a rough indicator of the potential reactivity of a
(alumino-)silicate material. Similarly, materials showing structural

disorder such as glasses show higher pozzolanic activities than

crystalline ordered compounds.