The Influence of the Type of Cement on the Properties of Surface Cement Concrete

Abstract

The aim of this work was to reduce the carbon footprint of cement concrete by using multi-component cement with a high content of blast furnace slag. The analysis consisted of comparing the properties of the concrete mix and the hardened concrete made of the CEM I 42.5 R-NA cement commonly used in Poland and the CEM III cement with a large amount of blast furnace slag. The tests used cement in a constant amount of 380 kg/m3, granite aggregate of 2/8, 8/16, 16/22 mm and sand of 0/2 mm. As part of this project, detailed tests of the concrete mix and hardened concrete were carried out in terms of compressive, bending, fracture and frost resistance after 150 cycles of freezing and thawing, and the pore structure in hardened concrete was assessed according to PN-EN 480-11. The endurance tests were performed after 7, 28 and 90 days. On the basis of the obtained results, it was found that the highest compressive strengths above 70.2 MPa were obtained for concrete with CEM III, 64.5 MPa for concrete with CEM I. Additionally, for concrete with multi-component cement, smaller drops in compressive strength were obtained and a more favorable pore distribution in hardened concrete was obtained. Concrete intended for road surfaces can be made of both CEM I and CEM III cement, as they meet the requirements of the technical specifications for roads with heavy traffic of heavy vehicles.