Beneficial Effect of Incorporation of Slag on the Hydration Heat, Mechanical Properties and Durability of Cement Containing Limestone Powder

This paper presents the experimental results of a wide research program, tending to determine the hydration mechanism, mechanical properties and the durability performance of ternary cement containing limestone powder and slag. The limestone powder increase the hydration at early ages inducing a high strength at, but it can reduce the later strength due to the dilution effect. On the other hands, Slag (S) contributes to increase the compressive strength at later ages. Hence, at medium blended cement (OPC-LP-S) with better performance could be produced. Results show at later age the Slag is very effective in producing ternary blended cements with similar on higher compressive strength than the ordinary Portland cement at 28 and 90 days. For durability, the incorporation of the slag into the cement containing limestone powder improves remarkably resistance to attack by acids and sulfates and it has been found that the durability of the cements never depends on the mechanical strength.