# Mechanical Strength and Hydration Characteristic of Multiple Common Waste-Blended Cement-Based Materials Cured by Electric-Induced Heating Curing Under Severely Cold Environments

## TL;DR

This study explores using electric heating to cure cement materials in extremely cold environments, showing improved strength and hydration.

## Contribution

The study introduces electric-induced heating as a viable method to enhance cement hydration and strength in polar regions.

## Key findings

- Electric-induced heating mitigates the adverse effects of ultra-low temperatures on cement hydration.
- MK-CM showed superior early strength development with rates above 10% compared to reference specimens.
- Microstructural analyses confirmed enhanced performance due to higher hydration and refined pore structure.

## Abstract

To address the challenges of concrete construction in polar regions, this study investigates the feasibility of fabricating cement-based materials under severely low temperatures using electric-induced heating curing methods. Cement mortars incorporating fly ash (FA-CM), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS-CM), and metakaolin (MK-CM) were cured at environmental temperatures of −20 °C, −40 °C, and −60 °C. The optimal carbon fiber (CF) contents were determined using the initial electric resistivity to ensure a consistent electric-induced heating curing process. The thermal profiles during curing were monitored, and mechanical strength development was systematically evaluated. Hydration characteristics were elucidated through thermogravimetric analysis (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to identify phase compositions and reaction products. Results demonstrate that electric-induced heating effectively mitigates the adverse effect caused by the ultra-low temperature constraints, with distinct differences in the strength performance and hydration kinetics among supplementary cementitious materials. MK-CM exhibited superior early strength development with strength increasing rates above 10% compared to the Ref. specimen, which was attributed to the accelerated pozzolanic reactions. Microstructural analyses further verified the macroscopic strength test results that showed that electric-induced heating curing can effectively promote the performance development even under severely cold environments with a higher hydration degree and refined micro-pore structure. This work proposes a viable strategy for polar construction applications.