UR2: Ultra-rapid reactivity test for real-time, low-cost quality control of calcined clays

Min, Yujia; Kabir, Hossein; Kothari, Chirayu; Iqbal, M. Farjad; Garg, Nishant

doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2025.107806

Title: UR²: Ultra-rapid reactivity test for real-time, low-cost quality control of calcined clays

Journal Article · 10 February 2025 · Cement and Concrete Research

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2025.107806 · OSTI ID:2526253

Min, Yujia ^[1]; Kabir, Hossein ^[2]; Kothari, Chirayu ^[2]; Iqbal, M. Farjad ^[2]; Garg, Nishant ^[2]

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)

To reduce cement's carbon footprint, there is growing interest in commercial adoption of sustainable SCMs such as calcined clays. However, the existing ASTM standard (R³ test, C1897) to test the reactivity of such clays takes up to 7 days and cannot be used for real-time quality control in an industrial setting. We address this issue by introducing a 5-min Ultra-Rapid Reactivity (UR²) test. By dissolving 47 clay specimens in 4 M NaOH solutions at 90°C, we report that a dissolution index of 1.54Al + Si correlates strongly to the 7-day R³ heat (R² = 0.92, RMSE = 94.1 J/g). This dissolution index also correlates to the 28-day compressive strength for 14 clay mixtures (R² = 0.94, RMSE = 1.7 MPa). This UR² test relies on colorimetry and can be conducted via off-the-shelf, low-cost cameras. Overall, our new UR² test opens a pathway for real-time, low-cost quality control of calcined clays.

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Research Organization:: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)

Grant/Contract Number:: AR0001401

OSTI ID:: 2526253

Journal Information:: Cement and Concrete Research, Journal Name: Cement and Concrete Research Vol. 191; ISSN 0008-8846

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
42 ENGINEERING
Calcined clay
Dissolution
Pozzolanic reactivity
Quality control
Rapid assessment

Title: UR2: Ultra-rapid reactivity test for real-time, low-cost quality control of calcined clays

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References (40)

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Related Subjects

Title: UR²: Ultra-rapid reactivity test for real-time, low-cost quality control of calcined clays