We investigated mechanical properties of concretes made with impurity aggregates of different combinations. Besides the mechanisms were explored by EDS, CT, and hardness testing. The results showed that fully rust-stained and surface rust-stained sandstone aggregate had significant adverse impact on the compressive strength of concrete while sandstone aggregate had a much more obvious impact on the ultimate tension of concrete. Concrete crack was more prone to expand along surfaces and the micro-hardness of interfacial transition zone of different aggregates was ranked in decreasing trend as sandstone, slate, SR sandstone, marble, and FR sandstone. The cluster growth of long needle-like ettringite crystal and strong preferential growth trend of Ca（OH）2 crystals would result in wider interfacial transition zone range of concretes made with fully rust-stained sandstone and marble aggregate, respectively. Therefore, the impurity aggregate content should be strictly controlled during aggregate selection.
Setting time and strength of sulphoaluminate rapid hardening cement （SAC） incorporated in the presence and absence of silica fume （SF） were determined. Combined with the techniques of＂ isothermal calorimeter, XRD and FSEM, the hydration kinetics of the two systems and the effect mechanism of SF on SAC were investigated. The experimental results showed that SF was proved to be beneficial for SAC system, in terms of setting time and late strength gain. Evidence of accelerator effect of silica fume was found during the first 8 hours of hydration. The formation of AFt was accelerated and the microstructure of the hydration products grew denser with incorporation of SF. SF was proved to play the role of dispersion and setting control at early age and had a greater contribution to later strength due to the increment of crystal nucleation point and the pozzolanic activity. Therefore, SF can be used to not only control the hydration kinetics of SAC, but also develop the late strength and improve the microstructure.
The feasibility of sulphoaluminate cement （SAC） utilization in support mortar was studied. Setting time and strength of as-received sulphoaluminate cement （SAC） paste were examined, hydration kinetics behavior was determined through Isothermal Calorimeter, and hydration mechanism was investigated by X-Ray diffraction analysis （XRD） and field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis （FSEM）. Results showed that as-received SAC contained 61% of anhydrous calcium sulfate （3CA＇CaSO4） and dicalcium silicate （C2S）. The strength after 1 day or 3 days grew to 68.6% or 85.7% of that after 28 days respectively, while most of hydration heat was released within 1 day. The emergency of three exothermic peaks at acceleration stage was found and hydration kinetics model was established choosing the terminal time of the first exothermic peak at accelerating stage as the beginning of accelerating stage. XRD analysis suggested that large amount of ettringite （AFt） was produced at early age and FSEM observation revealed that ettringite （AFt） formed in sulphoaluminate cement （SAC） paste was characterized of different morphology which was proved to be caused by different ion concentrations.
