Effect of pre-mixed cement on the dispersion of silica fume in ternary blended cementitious paste

The objective of the research presented herein was to investigate experimentally the effect of pre-mixing on ternary blended cement paste with an emphasis on the dispersion of silica fume for improved workability. Three different types of silica fume were prepared and the workability of each was tested using various workability measurement tests, specifically designed for cement paste. SEM observation confirmed that the new pre-mixing method using silica fume provided well-dispersed silica fume particles. In addition, the workability of each cement paste showed improvement when compared to standard mixing methods. Based on these results, the authors present new fundamental data for developing pre-mixed cement with improved workability.