3. Results and discussion
3.1. Hydration
Fig. 1 illustrates the effects of eucalypt and poplar wood fines
on the hydration exotherm of Portland cement. The ideal material
should provide higher maximum temperature and lower time to
achieve the maximum temperature (Semple et al., 2002). In general,
the addition of the woody material to cement clearly reduced the
maximum hydration temperature attained, hydration rate (◦C h−1)
and increased the time to maximum temperature. The mixture containing wood fines of eucalypt was associated with markedly
lower maximum temperature achieved, as compared to the neat
control cement and poplar mixture. The mixture also took longer
time than the neat cement to reach the maximum temperature.
As can be seen from Fig. 1, the maximum temperature and time
in poplar–cement mixture were approximately 49 ◦C and 16 h,
respectively, and in eucalypt–cement mixture approximately 36 ◦C
and 18 h, respectively. Compared to the neat cement, with the maximum
temperature and time around 64 ◦C and 8 h, the hydration of
boards incorporating wood fibers yielded less than suitable results.