An overview on the activation of reactivity of natural pozzolans

Abstract

Natural pozzolan is one of the oldest construction materials. Lime-pozzolan cements have been used for several thousands of years and have an excellent reputation for their durability. Pozzolans are being widely used as a cement replacement in Portland cement concrete. The use of pozzolans has the advantage of lower costs and better durability, but the disadvantage of a longer setting time and a slower early strength development. Different techniques have been tried to increase the reactivity of natural pozzolans to overcome these disadvantages. This paper has reviewed various methods used to activate the pozzolanic activity of natural pozzolans. All activation methods can be classified into three catalogues: thermal, mechanical, and chemical activation. A comparison based on strength–cost relationship indicates that the chemical activation method is the most effective and cheapest one.Key words: activation, reactivity, natural pozzolans, pozzolanic reaction, calcination, elevated temperature curing, chemical activators, strength, cost.