This study investigated the effect of calcium formate (CF) on the strength development and microstructure of the CaO-activated ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) system. The main activator (i.e., CaO) was fixed at 4 wt%, and the GGBFS was replaced with CF at 0, 1, 3, and 5 wt%. The use of CF significantly increased the strength of the binder system by inducing (1) more dissolution of GGBFS, (2) greater C-S-H formation although when CF was used over a certain limit (i.e., 3 wt%), the formation of C-S-H began to be disturbed, and most importantly, (3) an increase in C2AH8 formation. In this study, although the greater formation of C2AH8 was the main cause of the strength enhancement, the C2AH8 phase also likely increased porosity and reduced strength as it was metastable; thus, strength increasing effect and reducing effect likely offset each other; thus, with increasing CF dosage, when the former was more dominant, the strength was enhanced (e.g., up to 3 wt%), but when the latter was larger, the strength enhancement decreased (e.g., at 5 wt%).

这项研究调查了甲酸钙（CF）对CaO活化的磨粒高炉矿渣（GGBFS）系统的强度发展和微观结构的影响。主活化剂（即CaO）固定在4 wt％，GGBFS被CF替换为0、1、3和5 wt％。CF的使用通过诱导（1）GGBFS的更多溶解，（2）更大的CSH形成来显着提高粘合剂体系的强度，尽管当CF的使用超过一定限度（即3 wt％）时，CSH的形成开始了（3）C2AH8的形成增加。在这项研究中，尽管C2AH8的更大形成是强度增强的主要原因，但C2AH8相也可能增加了孔隙度，降低了强度，因为它是亚稳的。从而，强度增加作用和减少作用可能相互抵消；因此，随着CF剂量的增加，当前者占主导地位时，强度会增强（例如，达到3 wt％），而当后者更大时，强度增强会下降（例如，达到5 wt％）。