Influence of mix proportioning parameters and curing regimes on the properties of ultra-high strength alkali-activated concrete

•Effects of proportioning parameters and curing regimes on ultra-high strength alkali-activated concrete have been investigated.•The dosage of alkali has a remarkable effect on mechanical and workability.•Adopting various curing regimes barely affects the phases and molecular bonds of reaction products.•Steam curing is more conducive to forming denser microstructure.•The correlations of compressive strength among various curing regimes have been established. This study investigates the influence of mix proportioning parameters and curing regimes on the material properties of alkali-activated binder-based ultra-high strength concrete (AAB-UHSC). The effects of five groups of mix proportioning parameters (i.e., fly ash replacement ratio, silica fume replacement ratio, alkali to binder ratio, water glass modulus, and steel fiber content) and three curing regimes(i.e., ambient curing, standard curing, and hybrid curing) on the workability, compressive strength, flexural strength and microstructure development of AAB-UHSC were systematically evaluated. The results indicated that increasing the steel fiber and silica fume dosage negatively affected the flowability of freshly mixed AAB-UHSC. There existed an optimal alkali-to-binder ratio and water glass modulus in terms of flowability, compressive strength, and flexural strength, but the fly ash replacement ratio had a complex effect on the material performance of the AAB-UHSC. The microstructures of the specimens cured in hybrid curing regimes were denser, and fewer cracks were observed, which resulted in higher strength compared to specimens cured under ambient curing and standard curing conditions. The three types of curing regimes adopted barely alter the phases and molecular bonds of hydration products based on the XRD and FTIR results. In addition, the correlations between the compressive strength of the AAB-UHSC obtained under ambient curing conditions, standard curing conditions, and obtained under hybrid curing and standard curing conditions were analyzed, and the fitted results had higher correlation coefficients (R2).