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Effect of Limestone Powders on Compressive Strength and Setting Time of

Portland-Limestone Cement Pastes

Article  in  Advanced Materials Research · September 2011

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.343-344.322

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 TIChE International Conference 2011
November 10 – 11, 2011 at Hatyai, Songkhla THAILAND
Paper Code: Paper Code

Effect of Limestone Powders on Compressive Strength and Setting

Time of Portland-Limestone Cement Pastes

P. Thongsanitgarn1, W. Wongkeo1, S. Sinthupinyo2, A. Chaipanich1*

1
Department of Physics and Materials, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
2
Siam Research and Innovation Co., Ltd., 51 Moo 8, Tubkwang, Kaeng Khoi, Saraburi 18260, Thailand
*e-mail: arnon@chiangmai.ac.th

Abstract – In this study limestone powders with different particle sizes of 5, 10 and 20 m were used to
replace a part of Portland cement in different replacement levels to produce Portland-limestone cement
pastes. The percentages of limestone replacement are 0, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15 and 20% by weight. The
effect of fineness and the amount of limestone powders on compressive strength and setting time are
investigated. It has been established that limestone replacement causes reduce the compressive strength
due to the dilution effect, but it can reduce energy consumption and CO2 emission in cement
manufacturing. The fineness of limestone powder used has influence on the observed compressive
strength values. From the standard consistency results, it seems that limestone has no effect on water
requirement compared to Portland cement. Moreover, the increase in level of fine particles would require
much water. Both initial and final setting times were decreased with an increase in the amount of
limestone. Furthermore, at the same level replacement, the cement pastes using 5 m of limestone show
lower setting time than those using 10 and 20 m, respectively.

Keyword: Limestone, Portland cement, Compressive strength, Water requirement, Setting time

1

November 10 – 11, 2011 at Hatyai, Songkhla THAILAND
1. Introduction
Cement manufacturing produce a large amount of
undesiderable products, mostly CO2, which result in
greenhouse effect that leads to the earth temperature
increase. In addition, cement production process is
energy intensive as well as raw materials demanding.
Technical development to lower the environmental
impact of cement production achieved by the reduction
of cement demand (blended cement). Therefore, many
studies have considerable attention on mineral additions
such as slag, natural pozzolana, fly ash and limestone
[1, 2] in order to reduce energy consumption and CO2
emission. Nowadays limestone has been widely used to
add or replace a part of Portland cement to produce
Portland limestone cement and Portland composite
cement.
The Limestone is calcareous sedimentary rock
mainly consisting of calcium carbonate (CaCO3),
commonly called calcite. Limestone is used in cement
and concrete for various purposes, namely, as a raw
material for clinker production and as coarse or fine
aggregate. Limestone powder is produced by finely
grinding limestone in quarrying operations and has been
suggested for use as an additive in portland cement.
Replacing of limestone into Portland cement has been
widely studied for several years [3-6]. Limestone is
usually considered as an inert filler material that
improves the hydration rate of cement compounds and
consequently increases the strength at early ages [7].
The incorperation of limestone powder with Portland
cement has many advantages on early compressive
strength, durability and workability [8]. While some
authors claim that limestone acts as an active
participant, and that during hydration of Portland
cement some calcium carbonate is taken into system
and reacts with the alumina phases of cement to form
carboaluminates and delays or impedes the ettringite-
monosulphate tranformation [2]. This leads to the
stabilisation of the ettringite and will result in an
increase in the total volume of the hydration products,
which might result in a decrease in porosity and thus an
increase in strength. The effect of this chemical
interaction in PC-limestone system is, however, not so
pronounced due to limited aluminate content in the
clinker.
The aim of this paper is to study the effect of
limestone replacement on compressive strength and
setting time of Portland-limestone cement pastes.
Influence of the amount and limestone particle size will
be investigated.
2. Research methodology
The materials used in this studies were ordinary
Portland cement (OPC) and limestone (LS). Limestone
powders with a different particle size of 5, 10 and 20
TIChE International Conference 2011
m were used to replace as a part of Portland cement to
produce Portland-limestone cement. Cement pastes
were formulated varying the replacement of limestone
from 0% to 20%. All replacement were made by
weight. For each pastes, the water to binder ratio (w/b)
was 0.50. The mixture were mixed and cast into
505050 mm moulds. After casting, moulds
containing the specimens were covered with a plastic
sheet and stored in the laboratory environment for 24 h.
Then the paste specimens were demoulded and
immersed in saturated lime water at 230.5 C until 1,
7, 14, 28 and 90 days. At the test time, the compressive
strength will be investigated.
The physical properties as water requirement and
setting time are determined by Vicat probe and Vicat
needle apparatus, respectively.
3. Results and Discussion
Compressive strength measurements were carried out
at ages of 1, 7, 14, 28 and 90 days. The compressive
strength of Portland-limestone cement pastes was
calculated from the average of three specimens and
plotted as a function of limestone content. Figure 1
shows the compressive strength of Portland-limestone
cement pastes using different particle size of limestone
powder. The compressive strength is obviously related
to the limestone content. It was found that the
compressive strength of all Portland-limestone cement
pastes was lower than OPC control and decreased with
increasing limestone content at the same particle size.
However, the replacement of limestone up to 7.5% by
weight seems to give similar compressive strength to
OPC control at early ages, especially, use of 5 m
limestone. The replacement of Portland cement by
limestone powder caused a reduction in the compressive
strength that can be explained as a result of cement
dilution effect. It is indicated that the filler effect cannot
compensate for the dilution effect at all ages. It was also
found that all Portland-limestone cement pastes show an
increase in compressive strength with increasing curing
time.
Figure 2 shows the compressive strength of Portland-
limestone cement pastes at 7 and 28 days of curing. At
the same limestone content, it was found that the
compressive strength of Portland-limestone cement
pastes using limestone 5 µm was higher than those
using limestone 10 and 20 µm, respectively. This is due
to limestone powder at small particle size has a fineness
higher than large particle size which results to more
reactive. In addition, the small particle size can fill the
pore between cement particles in paste that is known as
a filling effect. Thus, the fineness of limestone powder
used has influence on the observed compressive
strength values.
Paper Code-2
 TIChE International Conference 2011
November 10 – 11, 2011 at Hatyai, Songkhla THAILAND

Fig. 2. Compressive strength of Portland-limestone cement pastes at

different ages: (a) 7 days and (b) 28 days.

The water requirement and setting time, determined

on the fresh paste, are reported in Table 1. It seems that
limestone has no effect on water requirement compared
to Portland cement. Moreover, increasing the level of
fine particles caused higher specific surface area, which
requires much water.
From Table 1, it indicates the initial and final setting
time of Portland-limestone cement pastes at different
amount and fineness of limestone. The obtained values
show that both initial and final setting times were
Fig. 1. Compressive strength of Portland-limestone cement pastes with decreased with an increase in the amount of limestone.
various limestone particle size: (a) 5 m, (b) 10 m and (c) 20 m.
It can be concluded that limestone fills the pores
Table 1. Water requirement and setting time of Portland-limestone
between cement particles due to formation of
cement pastes. carboaluminates, which may accelerate the setting of
cement pastes. From the examination of setting time
Mix Water Setting time (min) behavior, we also see that, at the same level
requirement (g) Initial Final replacement, the cement pastes using 5 m of limestone
PC 132 142 180
Limestone 5 m
show lower setting time than those using 10 and 20 m,
10LS 133 108 140 respectively.
12.5LS 132 97 125
15LS 130 89 120
Limestone 10 m 4. Conclusions
10LS 132 117 150
12.5LS 130 114 140 This study reports the effect of the amount and
15LS 128 109 135 limestone particle size on the properties of Portland-
Limestone 20 m limestone cement pastes. The following conclusions can
10LS 127 129 150
12.5LS 126 123 150 be drawn from the obtained experimental data:
15LS 125 121 145  The compressive strength of Portland-limestone
cement pastes decreased in all ages with an
increasing amount of limestone due to the dilution
effect.

Paper Code-3
 TIChE International Conference 2011
November 10 – 11, 2011 at Hatyai, Songkhla THAILAND

 The limestone particle size has influence on the

observed compressive strength values. It was
confirmed that compressive strength increased with
the fineness of limestone.
 From the standard consistency results, it seems that
limestone has no effect on water requirement
compared to Portland cement. Moreover, the increase
in level of fine particles caused requires much water.
 Both initial and final setting time of Portland-
limestone cement pastes were decreased with an
increasing of limestone content at the same fineness.
 At the same level replacement, the cement pastes
using small-sized limestone show lower setting time
than those using large-sized limestone.

5. Acknowledgement and References

This work is supported by the Thailand Research
Fund (TRF), the Commission on Higher Education
(CHE). PT would like to acknowledge financial support
from the TRF through the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D.
Program. We would also like to thank the Faculty of
Science and the Graduate School, Chiang Mai
University. The Siam Research and Innovation Co., Ltd.
is also acknowledged for providing limestone. We also
wish to thank the National Research University Project
under Thailand’s Office of Higher Education
Commission for financial support.

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Paper Code-4

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