A Study on the Relationships between Water Film Thickness, Fresh Properties, and Mechanical Properties of Cement Paste Containing Superfine Basalt Powder (SB)

In this paper, the effect of a newly developed superfine basalt powder (SB) on the fresh and mechanical properties of cement paste was studied. The concept of water film thickness (WFT) was cited to explain the influence of SB on fresh and mechanical properties and related mathematical model formulas were established. In addition, the relationship between the fresh properties and mechanical properties of paste was also explored. The results indicated that SB can improve the segregation resistance and cohesiveness. The maximum improvement rate relative to the control cement paste was 75.4% and 50.4%, respectively. The 5% SB and 10% SB reduced the fluidity in the range of 4.1–68.7% but increased the early and late compressive strength in the range of 1.2–25.7% compared to control cement paste under different water/cementitious materials (W/CM) ratios. However, the influence of 20% SB on fluidity and compressive strength was opposite to the above behavior, and the increase rate and decrease rate were 1.8–11.8% and 1.1–13.9% respectively. The WFT was the most important factor that determined the compressive strength, rheological parameters, and flow parameters of paste containing SB, while the substitute content of SB and WFT together determined the bleeding rate and cohesiveness. Among them, the correlation between bleeding rate and WFT increased with time. The empirical mathematical models between WFT, fresh properties, and compressive strength were established and verified by other mineral admixtures, which were successfully extended and applied to the entire field of cement-based materials.