The construction season is limited in northern countries due to the severe cold weather conditions and their detrimental impacts on concrete quality. Thus, there are excessive expenses required annually for insulation and energy-intensive heating systems for cold-weather concreting. This experimental study aimed to investigate the potential of using high-strength one-part alkali-activated blast furnace slag (AAS) in cold weather without the need for supplementary heating systems. Therefore, the impacts of different subzero curing temperatures on the hardened properties of one-part AAS mortar in comparison with cement mortar were assessed. After casting, mortars were immediately cured at a temperature of 23, −5, −10, and −20 °C, up to 56d. The results showed that the lower the curing temperature, the lower the UPV and compressive strength of cement and one-part AAS mortar; however when the curing period was fixed, one-part AAS mortar registered higher UPV and compressive strength than cement mortar at all curing temperatures. Owing to additional room temperature curing, the hardened properties of AAS mortar were significantly improved. The findings were further supported by microstructural and thermogravimetric analyses.

由于严寒天气条件及其对混凝土质量的不利影响，北方国家的施工季节有限。因此，每年用于寒冷天气的混凝土保温和高能耗加热系统都需要花费过多的费用。这项实验研究旨在研究在寒冷天气中无需使用辅助加热系统的情况下使用高强度单部分碱活化高炉矿渣（AAS）的潜力。因此，与水泥砂浆相比，评估了不同零下固化温度对单份AAS砂浆硬化性能的影响。铸造后，砂浆立即在23，-5，-10和-20°C的温度下固化，直至56d。结果表明，固化温度越低，水泥和单份AAS砂浆的UPV和抗压强度越低; 但是，在固定固化时间后，在所有固化温度下，单份AAS砂浆的UPV和抗压强度都比水泥砂浆高。由于额外的室温固化，大大改善了AAS砂浆的硬化性能。微观结构和热重分析进一步支持了这一发现。