CEMENT AND CONCRETE MATERIALS

materials fundamentals + mix design

Christopher Hall
2009
S131
christopher.hall@ed.ac.uk

CEMENT
Materials fundamentals

Sources of information
Cement manufacture + composition
Cement hydration
Microstructure
Concrete mixes
Properties: strength
permeability
durability

Information/texts
Jackson & Dhir: Civil Engineering Materials,
5th edn, 1997

Mindess, Young & Darwin: Concrete, 2002

Neville & Brooks: Concrete Technology, 1987
Neville: Properties of Concrete, 4th edn, 1995
Bensted & Barnes: Structure and Performance of
Cements, 2nd edn, 2001

Information/journals

Cement and Concrete Research

Magazine of Concrete Research
American Concrete Institute Journal
ACI Journal

Materials and Structures [RILEM]

Information/websites
Virtual Cement & Concrete Testing Laboratory
includes Electronic monograph from Bentz at NIST:

http://ciks.cbt.nist.gov/vcctl/
See also microstructure images library from Lange at UIUC:

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dlange/www/CML

Cement Manufacture
Raw materials
limestone + clay
on firing, produces a complex mixture
of synthetic minerals, principally
calcium silicates and calcium
aluminates

Manufacture

CEMENT
World production 2001 1.6 billion tons

CEMENT
World production 2001 1.6 billion tons
Steel production 900 million tons

CEMENT
World production 2001 1.6 billion tonnes
2--5 % total CO2 emission
Energy intensive manufacture
Various figures
are quoted.

The energy cost

of manufacture
is around 3500
kJ/kg cement

CEMENT
World production 2001 1.6 billion tonnes
EU production 2002 194 million tonnes
For each tonne cement produced
0.800 tonne CO2 is also produced
0.525 tonne from decalcination
of limestone
0.335 tonne from combustion
of fuel in the kiln
0.050 tonne from electricity
production

CEMENT

In EU, cement industry produces

3 per cent of total anthropogenic CO2
Source: Cembureau

CEMENT COMPOSITIONS
SiO2

OPC zone

CaO

Al2O3 + Fe2O3

CEMENT
COMPOSITION
Notation
CaO
Al2O3
Fe2O3
SiO2

CEMENT
COMPOSITION
Notation
CaO
Al2O3
Fe2O3
SiO2

C
A
F
S

CEMENT
COMPOSITION
Notation
CaO
Al2O3
Fe2O3
SiO2

C
A
F
S

Table 22. Mineralogical Composition of Classic Cement Clinker

Oxide Composition

Cement Notatiion

Common Name

Concentration (wt%)

3CaO SiO2

C 3S

alite

5565

2CaO SiO2

C 2S

belite

1525

3CaO Al2O 3

C 3A

aluminate

814

4CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3

C4AF

brownmillerite

812

Clinker microstructure

150 micron

C3S
C2S
C3A
C4AF

C3S

C2S

Clinker microstructure

150 micron

C3S
C2S
C3A
C4AF

C3S

C2S

Clinker microstructure

150 micron

C3S
C2S
C3A
C4AF

C3S

C2S

Clinker microstructure

C3S
C2S
C2A
C4AF

C3A
C4AF

C3A
C4AF

Clinker microstructure
C3S, C2S, C3A, C4AF

200 micron

Cement grinding
Gypsum additions (strictly sulphate)
Particle size distribution

Images from Lange

UIUC
http://cee.ce.uiuc.edu/lange/micro

Cement hydration 1
Heat evolution
Induction period

Cement hydration 2
Chemical reaction with water
All minerals involved
115 micron

Cement hydration 2
Principal reaction which develops
strength
C3S + water ---> C-S-H

Cement hydration 3
Chemical reaction with water
All minerals involved
Formation of lime
(calcium hydroxide)
pH of pore water

Cement hydration 4
Water requirement
about 30% by wt cement for complete
reaction

Cement hydration 5
Four stages of hydration in a
microstructural model of C3S
hydration. The degrees
of hydration are:
top left--0%
top right--20%,
bottom left--50%
bottom right--87%
Red=unreacted cement
blue=CH
yellow=C-S-H
black= porosity
from Bentz, NIST

Computational materials science

Cellular automaton model of cement and concrete
D Bentz and E Garboczi NIST

Cement hydration 6

Synchrotron X-ray view

Summary of setting and hardening

Workability
Development of continuous network
of hydrate material
Strength development
Porosity and permeability
Timescale

Strength and strength development

Cement Based Materials

Mortars
Concrete
Manufactured cement based materials
Autoclaved aerated concrete

Transport properties
Permeability

Sorptivity

see Hall & Hoff: Water Transport in

Brick, Stone and Concrete 2002

PERMEABILITY property

Darcys law:
u = Q/A = - kp /L
k permeability
Q volume rate of flow

B
A

Types of cements
Portland cement
Blended or composite cements
Portland + other mineral
components

BS EN 197-1
Cement
Other mineral components are
Minerals which react with lime
Pozzolans
Blastfurnace slag
Fly ash
Natural pozzolans
Inert fillers
Crushed limestone

BS EN 197-1
Cement