Long-term effectiveness and mechanism of LiOH in inhibiting alkali-silica reaction

A practical alkali reactive aggregate-Beijing aggregate was used to test the long-term effectiveness of LiOH in inhibiting alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) expansion. In this paper, the most rigorous conditions were so designed that the mortar bars had been cured at 80 °C for 3 years after being autoclaved for 24 h at 150 °C. At this condition, LiOH was able to inhibit long-term alkali-silica reaction (ASR) expansion effectively. Not only was the relationship between molar ratio of n(Li)/n(Na) and the alkali contents in systems established, but also the governing mechanism of such effects was studied by SEM.